Fallen Fanfiction
by onemilliondreams
Summary: ( i suck at these summaries ) Something is different this time, Luce is different she remembers everything about her past lives but her feeling towards Daniel changed . What if she killed Trevor just to get to Daniel and her angel friends just to ... (well you will have to read to find out)
1. Chapter 1

Just to clarify I DID NOT write the Fallen series , they are all by the amazingly talented Lauren Kate , some bits of this story may be from the book but they dont belong to me just to put it out there .

**Chapter 1**

Luce barged into the fluorescent-lit lobby of the Sword & Cross School ten minutes later than she should have. A barrel-chested attendant with ruddy cheeks and a clipboard clamped under an iron bicep was already giving orders—which meant Luce was already behind.

She was so nervous to see her friends again to see him again ... its been so long since .. she cleared her head she couldnt act like this not now , she had to keep her act together or else they would get suspicious , its hard to trick angels especially Daniel but she was an angel too she thought to herself and smirked .

"So remember, it's meds, beds, and reds," the attendant barked at a cluster of three other students all standing with their backs to Luce. "Remember the basics and no one gets hurt."

Shit Luce thought to herself "Could you, uh, could you repeat that?" she asked the attendant. "What was it, meds—?" she bit her lip nervously trying to look as innocent as possible

"Well, look what the storm blew in," the attendant said loudly, then continued, enunciating slowly: "Meds, If you're one of the medicated students, this is where you go to keep yourself doped up, sane, breathing, whatever."

"Got it." Luce felt her stomach heave. "Meds."

"And what are you wearing ! " the she man gasped loudly widening her eyes

Luce slowly eyed her black tight minni dress and her hight heels and leather jacket which was also black "This ? - Luce raised her eyebrows "Well this is my 'uniform ' whats wrong with it its all black ? "

"My dear Luce this is a school not a fashion show " the woman said sharply "Anyway their is no time to change now ill let you off this time but remember dress more casually next time or youll get detention . " she pointed her small chubby finger at Luce

"Got it " Luce said under her breath while playing with her long blonde hair . She glanced sideways to sneek a peek at the three other students standing in a half circle around her. On her near left was a girl tall thin but athletic looking with blonde hair and beautiful natural beauty . "Gabbe" Luce thought to herself , she could feel her heart acking at the sight of her best friend , all she wanted to do was to grab her and hugg her tightly and tell her how much she missed her , but she didnt "Ok Luce common keep it up you can do this " she kept telling herself

"I'm Gabbe," she drawled, flashing Luce a big smile that disappeared as quickly as it had surfaced . "I know " Luce wanted to say but all she did was raise her eyebrows and said "Luce" and smiled friendly .

To Luce's right was a guy with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a smattering of freckles across his nose. But the way he wouldn't even meet her eyes, just kept picking at a hangnail on his thumb, gave Luce the impression that, he was probably still stunned and embarrassed to find himself here.

And than came the guy next to the brown haired boy . He was tall and thin, with a DJ bag slung over his shoulder, shaggy black hair, and large, deep-set green eyes. His lips were full and a natural rose color . At the back of his neck, a black tattoo in the shape of a sunburst seemed almost to glow on his light skin, rising up from the edge of his black T-shirt. "Cam" Luce thought oh he didnt change one single bit he was so still so dangerously beautiful , honestly she missed him too , her cocky , annoying ,flirty friend .

Unlike the other two, when Cam turned to meet her gaze, he held it and didn't let go. His mouth was set in a straight line, but his eyes were warm and alive. He gazed at her, standing as still as a sculpture, which made Luce want to walk up to him and hug him tightly and tell him how much she missed him . She sucked in her breath. His eyes were still the same intense, and alluring, and, still a little bit disarming , those where the eyes she knew so well .

Luce took one more look at the boy and than looked back at the attendant .

"Those of you who've learned the ropes are free to go after you dump your hazards." The attendant gestured at a large cardboard box under a sign that said in big black letters PROHIBITED MATERIALS. "And when I say free, Todd" — she clamped a hand down on the freckled kid's shoulder, making him jump—"I mean gymnasium-bound to meet your preassigned student guides. You" — she pointed at Luce—"dump your hazards and stay with me."

The four of them shuffled toward the box and Luce watched, baffled, as the other students began to empty their pockets. The girl pulled out a three-inch pink Swiss Army knife. The green-eyed guy reluctantly dumped a can of spray paint and a box cutter. Even the hapless Todd let loose several books of matches and a small container of lighter fluid. She saw the other kids reach into their pockets and chuck their cell phones into the box, she gulped.

Leaning forward to read the PROHIBITED MATERIALS sign a little more closely, she saw that cell phones, pagers, and all two-way radio devices were strictly forbidden. It was bad enough that she couldn't have her car! Luce clamped her hand around the cell phone in her pocket, her only connection to the outside world. When the attendant saw the look on her face. Luce received a few quick slaps on the cheek. "Don't swoon on me, kid, they don't pay me enough to resuscitate. Besides, you get one phone call once a week in the main lobby."

"You got to be fucking joking me " Luce raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes . She could see Gabbes eyes widening and Cam chuckiling quietly to himself . "One call a week ? "

She looked down at her phone and realised she had two new messages from Callie her best friend at Dover but she didnt dare open her phone so she just stared at it for a minute .

"We're still waiting on one person," the attendant sang. "I wonder who it is." Luce's attention snapped back to the Hazard Box, which was now brimming with contraband she didn't even recognize. She could feel Cam's green eyes staring at her. She looked up and noticed that everyone was staring. Her turn. She threw the phone in carelessly into the box . She reached into her bra and took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter .

"Can i keep these ? " Luce asked flustrated even though she knew the answer

"Well of course ... NOT ! " the attendant said

"Oh i get it " - Luce said with annoyance " just incase i set someone on fire again right " Luce laughed at herself as she threw the pack into the box

Todd and Gabbe headed for the door without so much as a look in Luce's direction, but Cam turned to the attendant.

"I can fill her in," he said, nodding at Luce.

"Not part of our deal," the attendant replied automatically, as if she'd been expecting this dialogue. "You're a new student again—that means new-student restrictions. Back to square one. You don't like it, you should have thought twice before breaking parole."

Cam stood motionless, expressionless, as the attendant tugged Luce—who'd stiffened at the word "parole" — toward the end of a yellowed hall.

Luce turned around to take one last look at Cam who was standing there looking at her as she was walking away . Luce winked at his and shouted "See ya later Briel " and regretted it immediately Cams eyes widened but Luce turned around and pretended he wasn't these .


	2. Chapter 2 :Sweet Lies

Chapter 2

"Moving on," she said, as if nothing had just happened. "Beds." She pointed out the west-facing window to a distant cinder-block building. Luce could see Gabbe and Todd shuffling slowly toward them, with the third boy walking slowly, as if catching up to them were the last thing on his list of things to do.

The dorm was formidable and square, a solid gray block of a building whose thick double doors gave away nothing about the possibility of life inside them. A large stone plaque stood planted in the middle of the dead lawn, and Luce remembered from the Web site the words PAULINE DORMITORY chiseled into it. It looked even uglier in the hazy morning sun than it had looked in the flat black-and-white photograph.

Even from this distance, Luce could see black mold covering the face of the dorm. All the windows were obstructed by rows of thick steel bars. She squinted. Was that barbed wire topping the fence around the building?

The attendant looked down at a chart, flipping through Luce's file. "Room sixty-three. Throw your bag in my office with the rest of them for now. You can unpack this afternoon."

Luce lazily walked up to what was here called an 'office' which was really just a big ugly stone desk and dropped her bag just at the edge of it .

She turned back to the attendant and flashed her a very fake smile .

"And what about, what did you say—the reds?" Luce asked the attendant, ready to be released from the tour.

"Reds," the attendant said, pointing toward a small wired device hanging from the ceiling: a lens with a flashing red light. Luce hadn't seen it before, but as soon as the attendant pointed the first one out, she realized they were everywhere.

"Cameras?"

"Very good," the attendant said, voice dripping condescension. "We make them obvious in order to remind you. All the time, everywhere, we're watching you. So don't screw up—that is, if you can help yourself."

"Of course " Luce smiled at the attendant and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, orientation's over," the attendant said. "You're on your own now. Here's a map if you need to find anything else." She gave Luce a photocopy of a crude hand-drawn map, then glanced at her watch. "You've got an hour before your first class, but my soaps come on in five, so" — she waved her hand at Luce—"make yourself scarce. And don't forget," she said, pointing up at the cameras one last time. "The reds are watching you."

"Ill keep that in mind " Luce winked at the attendant and began walking towards her room when a skinny, dark-haired girl appeared in front of her, wagging her long fingers in Luce's face.

"Ooooooh," the girl taunted in a ghost-story-telling voice, dancing around Luce in a circle. "The reds are watching youuuu."

Arriane , Luce thought to herself she couldn't help but smile at her old friend .Arriane was like a sister to Luce she was always there for her no matter what , she was a little crazy but all the best people are .

"Get out of here, Arriane, before I have you lobotomized," the attendant said, though it was clear from her first brief but genuine smile that she had some coarse affection for the crazy girl.

It was also clear that Arriane did not reciprocate the love. She mimed a jerking-off motion at the attendant, then stared at Luce, daring her to be offended.

"And just for that," the attendant said, jotting a furious note in her book, "you've earned yourself the task of showing Little Miss Sunshine around today."

Arriane slowly eyed the 'new' Luce from head to toe and let out a disgusted noise , "Well don't you look dressy "- she began circling Luce not taking her eyes off her . "You can be my own personal barbie doll " she said grabbing Luce's hair and running her long fingers through it but still managing to be gentle like Luce was a baby who Arriane didn't want to hurt .

"Thanks " Luce began not knowing what to say " but i hate barbies"

"Oh really " Arriane raised an eyebrow "Well you sure look like one "

"When i was a kid i used to chop off my barbies heads " Luce said not taking her eyes off Arriane's face .

A wide grin appeared on the girls face and she grabbed Luce's hands and began dragging her out of the building . "This is a start of a great friendship " she said to Luce .

"Not the start " Luce said to herself under her breath following Arriane .

"Whachya say ? " the girl stopped and narrowed her eyes at Luce .

"Nothing " Luce smiled and bit her lip nervously

"Ok than " she smiled "Lets get this tour started "

But before they left the door to the lobby swung open and in walked Cam . He shook his head and said to Luce, "This place isn't afraid to do a strip search. So if you're packing any other hazards" — he raised an eyebrow and dumped a handful of unrecognizables in the box—"save yourself the trouble."

"Well i guess i wont be needing this " Luce said as she lifted her mini dress up and revealed a black strap with a knife tied to her thigh , she took it out and threw it into the box .

Cam raised his eyebrows in shock and Arriane just stared at Luce with what looked like disappointment in her eyes .

"You are something else aren't you " Cam said looking astonished and impressed .

Behind Luce, Arriane laughed under her breath. Cam's head shot up, and when his eyes registered Arriane, he opened his mouth, then closed it, like he was unsure how to proceed.

"Arriane," he said evenly.

"Cam," she returned.

"You know him?" Luce whispered, thinking how pathetic her act was trying to remind herself to act clueless to who and what they are .

"Don't remind me," Arriane said, dragging Luce out the door into the gray and swampy morning.

**If you guys like my writing than please let me know if i should keep going with it i guarentee you it will get much better and exciting i promise :) **


	3. Chapter 3 : As we meet again

Chapter 3

The back of the main building let out onto a chipped sidewalk bordering a messy field. The grass was so overgrown, it looked more like a vacant lot than a school commons, but a faded scoreboard and a small stack of wooden bleachers argued otherwise.

Beyond the commons lay four severe-looking buildings: the cinder-block dormitory on the far left, a huge old ugly church on the far right, and two other expansive structures in between that Luce imagined were the classrooms.

This was it. Her whole world was reduced to the sorry sight before her eyes , for a while at least , until she does what she has to do than she can leave forever . Her heart ached at the thought of leaving all of her friends forever Cam , Daniel , Gabbe , Arriane everyone , she knew it wont be the same without them .

Arriane immediately veered right off the path and led Luce to the field, sitting her down on top of one of the waterlogged wooden bleachers.

"Soooo," Arriane said. "Now you've met Randy."

"I thought his name was Cam."

"We're not talking about him," Arriane said quickly. "I mean she-man in there." Arriane jerked her head toward the office where they'd left the attendant in front of the TV. "Whaddya think—dude or chick?"

"Uh, chick?" Luce said tentatively. "Is this a test?"

Arriane cracked a smile. "The first of many. And you passed. At least, I think you passed. The gender of most of the faculty here is an ongoing, schoolwide debate. Don't worry, you'll get into it."

Luce knew Arriane well enough that she knew the girl was dead serious , so she just ignored her and follower her in silence.

"Okay, spill it," Arriane ordered. Plopping down on the top bleacher and motioning for Luce to join her, she said, "What'd ya do to get in here?"

Arriane's tone was playful,and Luce couldn't help but smile , she knew this question was going to pop up sooner or later but she really didn't feel like spilling her secrets to Arriane not right now anyways .

Instead of answering, she watched Arriane, who was lying back on the bleachers, sporting a pair of enormous black sunglasses that covered the better part of her face. It was hard to tell, but she must have been staring at Luce, too, because after a second, she shot up from the bleachers and grinned.

"Your'e so mysterious Luce " she laughed but Luce still said nothing , this was one of those times when she was not in the mood for Arrianes humor .

"Fair warning," Arriane continued. "You're going to hate the classes here. You wouldn't be human if you didn't."

"Why? What's so bad about them?" Luce asked. Maybe Arriane just didn't like school in general. With her black nail polish, black eyeliner, and the black bag she didn't exactly look bookish.

"The classes here are soulless," Arriane said. "Worse, they'll strip you of your soul. Of the eighty kids in this place, I'd say we've only got about three remaining souls." She glanced up. "Unspoken for, anyway…"

That didn't sound promising, but Luce was hung up on another part of Arriane's answer. "Wait, there are only eighty kids in this whole school?"

Arriane nodded, "Eight classes, ten kids a pop. You get to know everybody's crap pret-ty quickly," Arriane said. "And vice versa."

"I guess so," Luce agreed, biting her lip. But she wondered whether Arriane would be sitting here with that cool smirk in her pastel blue eyes if she knew the exact nature of why Luce was really here .

"And you'll want to steer clear of the hard cases."

"Hard cases?"

"The kids with the wristband tracking devices," Arriane said. "About a third of the student body."

"And they're the ones who—"

"You don't want to mess with. Trust me."

"Well i got one of those wristbands does that make me a hard case too ? " Luce asked confused

"Well you must have fucked up big time Luce , honestly you don't look it , you seem like a friendly innocent type "

"Well " Luce couldn't help herself "the 'old Luce' died many years ago " she said sounding quiet sad .

"Well if it makes you feel any better i got one of them wristbands too so we can go be psychos together " Arriane flashed Luce a friendly warm smile .

Arriane jumped out of the bleachers and started walking away without turning back to see if Luce followed .

She scrambled down the bleachers after Arriane, ducking when one of the turkey vultures swooped dangerously low. Arriane, who didn't seem to notice, pointed at a lichen-swathed church at the far right of the commons.

"Over here, you'll find our state-of-the-art gymnasium," she said, assuming a nasal tour guide tone of voice. "Yes, yes, to the untrained eye it looks like a church. It used to be. We're kind of in an architectural hand-me-down Hell here at Sword & Cross. A few years ago, some calisthenic-crazed shrink showed up ranting about overmedicated teens ruining society. He donated a shit-ton of money so they'd convert it into a gym. Now the powers that be think we can work out our 'frustrations' in a 'more natural and productive way. "

Luce groaned. She had always loathed gym class.

"Girl after my very own heart," Arriane commiserated. "Coach Diante is ee-vil."

As Luce jogged to keep up, she took in the rest of the grounds. The Dover quad had been so well kept, all manicured and dotted with evenly spaced, carefully pruned trees. Sword & Cross looked like it had been plopped down and abandoned in the middle of a swamp. Weeping willows dangled to the ground, kudzu grew along the walls in sheets, and every third step they took squished.

And it wasn't just the way the place looked. Every humid breath Luce took stuck in her lungs. Just breathing at Sword & Cross made her feel like she was sinking into quicksand.

"Oh, and there's the cemetery."

Luce followed Arriane's pointing finger to the far left side of the quad, just past the dormitory. An even thicker cloak of mist hung over the walled-off portion of land. It was bordered on three sides by a thick forest of oaks. She couldn't see into the cemetery, which seemed almost to sink below the surface of the ground, but she could smell the rot and hear the chorus of cicadas buzzing in the trees.

"That's a cemetery?"

"Yep. This used to be a military academy, way back in the Civil War days. So that's where they buried all their dead. It's creepy as all get-out. And lawd," Arriane said, piling on a fake southern accent, "it stinks to high Heaven." Then she winked at Luce. "We hang out there a lot."

Luce raised her eyebrows at Arriane .

"Okay, it was only once. And it was only after a really big pharmapalooza."

Now, that was a word Luce recognized.

"Aha!" Arriane laughed. "I just saw a light go on up there. So somebody is home. Well, Luce, my dear, you may have gone to boarding school parties, but you've never seen a throw-down like reform school kids do it."

"What's the difference?" Luce asked

"You'll see." Arriane paused and turned to Luce. "You'll come over tonight and hang out, okay?" She surprised Luce by taking her hand. "Promise?"

"But I thought you said I should stay away from the hard cases," Luce joked.

"Luce my dear you are one of us so its only fit for you to hang out with us "

As they came around the corner of the cinder-block classrooms, Arriane skidded to a halt. "Just act cool oka- ... well actually never mind you do look kinda scary with all the black and the makeup " she said. eyeing Luce .

Luce loved makeup , today she wore a whine red lip stick with a thick cat eyeliner which made her look sexy and dangerous .

Luce just laughed and rolled her eyes at Arriane .

All the other students seemed to be clustered around the kudzu-strangled trees . No one looked exactly happy to be hanging out, but no one looked ready to go inside yet, either.

She began looking around at all the students , they all seemed to have their own little groups from a group of tattooed girls who wore braceletes up to their elbows to a couple making out every second minute .

Arriane noticed Luce's eyes running over the rest of the kids.

"We all do what we can to make it through the day," she said, shrugging. "But in case you hadn't observed the low-hanging vultures, this place pretty much reeks of death." She took a seat on a bench under a weeping willow and patted the spot next to her for Luce.

Luce wiped away a mound of wet, decaying leaves, but just before she sat down, she noticed a dress code violation.

A very attractive dress code violation .

In one word ...Daniel .


	4. Chapter 4 : To see you one last time

Chapter 4

He wore a bright red scarf around his neck. It was far from cold outside, but he had on a black leather motorcycle jacket over his black sweater , every other time Luce seen Daniel for the first time she was breathless and dizzy and it was like no one else was there except for him and her and she was so struck by his beauty he took her speech away and she had this warm feeling inside her body and she ached for him desperately ... but this time ? she felt nothing only a little bit of anger towards him but none of the 'You took my breath away ' crap , yet she didn't take her eyes off him. She took in his deep golden hair and matching tan. His high cheekbones, the dark sunglasses that covered his eyes, the soft shape of his lips , that she remembered where so soft on hers when they kissed , at the thought of Daniel and Luce kissing she would have had butterfly's in her stomach immediately but all she felt now was the cool air softly blowing her hair .

He leaned up against the building with his arms crossed lightly over his chest. And for a split second, Luce saw a flashing image of herself folded into those arms , she couldn't help but smile to herself she did miss him and she knew it but she couldn't and wouldn't let herself have feeling for him again their was too much to loose she kept repeating to herself .

He was talking to a shorter kid with dreads and a toothy smile - Roland Luce remembered .Both of them were laughing hard and genuinely . He looks so happy Luce thought to herself so happy without her and for a second she wanted to turn back to leave this place and let him live without her , she knew that as soon as he seen her he would try to avoid her and she knew he would be in pain again just because of her . Luce couldn't help but feel guilt and selfishness when she looked at Daniel but she hasn't seen him for so long and he was so beautiful than she had to look at him .

"That's Daniel Grigori," Arriane said, leaning in and reading her mind. "I can tell he's attracted somebody's attention."

Luce couldn't help but laugh this was so pathetic she kept on laughing "He is hot yeah " Luce began "emm but not my type , hes toooo how can i say this ...Perfect yeah hes too perfect " Luce turned to look at Arriane who look very confused and shocked ."What does every girl in this place want Daniel Grigori the beautiful dangerous looking boy ? " Luce asked with a lot of sarcasm in her tone .

"No not every girl but i just thought you would like that kind of guys "

"Well he is hot and all ill admit that but their is something off about him you know ? " Luce said raising one eyebrow at Arriane who now looked completely lost

"His friend there is Roland," Arriane said nodding in the dreadlocked kid's direction awkwardly trying to change the topic ."He's cool. The kind of guy who can get his hands on things, ya know?"

Act clueless just keep it up Luce thought, biting her lip. "What kinds of things?"

Arriane shrugged, "Just things. Ask-and-you-shall-receive kind of stuff."

"What about Daniel?" Luce asked. "What's his story?" trying to look interested in the amazing life of Daniel Grigori .

Arriane laughed, then cleared her throat. "No one really knows," she said. "He holds pretty tight to his mystery man persona. Could just be your typical reform school asshole."

"Im no stranger to assholes " Luce said looking back at Daniel who took his glasses off and slid them inside his jacket, then turned to look at her.

His gaze caught hers, and Luce watched as his eyes widened and then quickly narrowed in surprise . Well he must be in shock Luce thought trying to stop herself from laughter .

She was still staring at him not daring to look away when he flashed her a smile .Of course Luce did not return it but instead she raised her hand and flipped him off just as he did the exact same thing to her . Now Luce burst out in laughter but Daniel just stood there looking confused and hurt .

Arriane grabbed Luce's hand and brought it down "Are you crazy why did you just flip him off ? "

"Well as you said hes an asshole and that's how i deal with assholes , i give them the bitch treatment so they don't screw with me , besides he flipped me off too "

"yeah but you too are me..-" Arriane broke off stopping herself from giving away the truth .

Luce just ignored Arriane like she wasn't even there and looked back at Daniel who was still staring at her frozen .Gracefully Luce got up and flashed Daniel a big fake bitchy smile before walking away towards the building not turning around to look back if Daniel was still staring at her , but she knew he was and she knew she surprised him .

" Luce wait up " she could hear Arriane yell as the bell rang and everyone began heading to their classes .


	5. Chapter 5 : The gold and the silver

Chapter 5

Luce had a piece of paper with her schedule printed on it a half-empty notebook she'd started to fill at Dover in her Advanced European History class last year a pen and a pack of cigarettes hidden in her bra for later .

The teacher had yet to materialize, the flimsy desks were arranged in haphazard rows, and the supply closet was barricaded with stacks of dusty boxes piled in front of it.

What was worse, none of the other kids seemed to notice the disarray. In fact, none of the other kids seemed to notice that they were in a classroom at all. They all stood clustered near the windows, taking one last drag of a cigarette here, repositioning the extra-large safety pins on their T-shirts there. Only Todd was seated at an actual desk, carving something intricate onto its surface with his pen. But the other new students seemed to have already found their places among the crowd. Cam had the preppy Dover-looking guys in a tight cluster around him. They must have been friends when he was enrolled at Sword & Cross the first time. Gabbe was shaking hands with the girl who'd been making out with the guy outside. Luce ignored Arriane and took a seat close to Todd and took out a cigarette and lit it while slowly eyeing everyone in the class .

Arriane flitted about the others, whispering things Luce couldn't make out, like some sort of goth princess , which Arriane was , a princess she always got along so well with people even though she could get annoying sometimes but otherwise she was cool .

As Arriane passed Cam she said something to him that Luce couldn't make out but she was sure she heard her name . SHIT ! she thought they must be suspecting something is up , Cam's emerald eyes turned to Luce, who quickly turned her head around and pretended to be doing something with the desk . But she knew it was too late she could hear his footsteps getting closer to her . She tilted her head gently towards him . He smiled at Luce, who was sitting with her ankles crossed under her chair and a cigarette in her mouth .

"Us new kids have to stick together," he said. "Know what I mean?"

"But I thought you'd been here before." Luce raised her eyebrow puffing out smoke from her mouth at Cam .

He didn't even flinch or move away he was still smiling at her . "Don't believe everything Arriane says." He glanced back at Arriane, who was standing at the window, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Oh no, she didn't say anything about you," Luce said quickly . "I think she doesn't really like you too much you know "

All Cam did was laugh at that and as he did his face lit up and his eyes sparkled even more . "I remember when I was a new kid here… the first time." He laughed to himself. "My band had just broken up and I was lost. I didn't know anyone. I could have used someone without" — he glanced at Arriane—"an agenda to show me the ropes."

"What, and you have no agenda?" Luce said, putting a flirty lilt to her voice .

An easy smile spread across Cam's face. He raised one eyebrow at her. "And to think I didn't want to come back here."

Luce just laughed and took a drag of her cigarette . She couldn't believe it Cam trying to flirt with her on the first day now he was badly trying to piss off Daniel and she liked that so she decided to play his game and go along . Cam reached into his pocket and pulled out a green guitar pick with the number 44 printed on it.

"This is my room number. Come by anytime."

Luce took the pick but before the could say something back Arriane clamped a hard hand down on Cam's shoulder. "I'm sorry, did I not make myself clear? I've already called dibs on this one."

Cam snorted. He looked straight at Luce as he said, "See, I thought there was still such a thing as free will. Maybe your pet has a path of her own in mind."

Luce opened her mouth to claim that of course she had a path, and that she was nobody's pet . But by the time she was able to get the words straight in her head, the minute-warning bell rang, and the little gathering over Luce's desk dissolved , she quickly threw the cigarette onto the floor and placed her foot over it .

The other kids filed into desks around her, and soon it stopped being so noteworthy that Luce was sitting prim and proper at her desk, keeping her eye on the door. Keeping a lookout for Daniel , it was stupid she knew that but she couldn't help it , when she seen him today something inside her tightened and she couldn't shake that feeling away , she missed him and his golden smile .

Out of the corner of her eye, she could feel Cam sneaking peeks at her. Normally Luce would have ignored him but she decided to use Cam as her little boy toy and try to piss off Daniel as much as she could , if he was going to be a dick to her well than she would be a bitch to him , and she knew he would try to make her hate him .

She looked over at Cam, who winked at her , then brushed his dark hair away from his eyes. Luce laughed at him and at how pathetic he was being .She was wondering how far would he go just to piss off Daniel so she just flashed him a flirty grin and turned back around rolling her eyes .

She started drifting off not paying attention to anything happening around her she was thinking of Daniel and of his reaction when he seen her and how Arriane greeted her like she never left them , she was so distracted that she didn't actually pay attention to the stern, mustached teacher who marched into the room, commanded the class to shapeupandsitdown, and firmly closed the door.

The smallest tweak of disappointment tugged at her heart. It took her a moment to trace where it had come from. Until the teacher shut the door, she'd been holding out a little hope that Daniel would be in her first class, too.

What did she have next hour, French? She looked down at her schedule to check what room it was in. Just then, a paper airplane skidded across her schedule, overshot her desk, and landed on the floor by her bag. She checked to see who'd noticed, but the teacher was busy tearing through a piece of chalk as he wrote something on the board.

Luce glanced nervously to her left. When Cam looked over at her, he gave her a wink and a flirty little wave that she just let slip by . But he didn't seem to have seen or been responsible for the paper airplane.

"Psssst," came the quiet whisper behind him. It was Arriane, who motioned with her chin for Luce to pick up the paper plane. Luce bent down to reach for it and saw her name written in small black letters on the wing. Her first note!

_Already looking for the exit?_

_Not a good sign._

_We're in this hellhole until lunch._

That had to be a joke. Luce double-checked her schedule and realized with horror that all three of her morning classes were in this very same room—and all three would be taught by the very same Mr. Cole.

He'd detached himself from the blackboard and was sleepily threading his way through the room. There was no introduction for the new kids—and Luce couldn't decide whether she was glad about that or not. Mr. Cole merely slapped syllabi down on each of the four new students' desks. When the stapled packet landed in front of Luce, she leaned forward eagerly to take a look. History of the World, it read. Circumventing the Doom of Mankind. Hmmm. History had always been the strongest subject, but circumventing doom , she was here for a different reason and not to study .

A closer look at the syllabus was all it took for Luce to see that Arriane had been right about being in a hellhole: an impossible reading load, TEST in big, bold letters every third class period. And a thirty-page paper on — seriously? — the failed tyrant of your choice. Thick black parentheses had been drawn in black Sharpie around the assignments Luce had missed during the first few weeks. In the margins, Mr. Cole had written See me for Makeup Research Assignment, If there was a more effective way be scared to find out . "Fuck this" she said quietly under her breath and threw the syllabi carelessly onto the desk and sat back .

At least she had Arriane sitting back there in the next row. Luce was glad the precedent had already been set for SOS note-passing , it was such a modern thing to do she remembered when her and Arriane used to write letters to each other centuries ago when they were also best friends those where such simple times Luce though .

After a few origami-challenged minutes, another plane landed on her desk. She carelessly opened the note and read it slowly .

_Oh, and until you're confident about your aim, you might not want to fly any Daniel-related messages my way. Dude behind you is famous on the football field for his interceptions.._

Luce took this as an amazing opportunity to begin her game at 'Who will piss off Daniel more ' and she began writing a note on a small piece of paper from her notebook and it said :

_Trust me Daniel is not my type he seems like a stuck up asshole and you can have him if you want as you keep talking about him all the time , i will not even attempt to talk to him . _

Satisfied with her note Lice folded it in half and turned around to face Roland he looked bored just as everyone else did Luce flashed him a smile and whispered

"hey can you pass this to Arriane " and placed the note on his desk . At that moment she felt satisfaction . Luce loved games and she loved annoying Daniel and this was the perfect opportunity she turned around and went back to scribbling on her notebook when another note landed on her desk

_Only 172 minutes to go!_

Luce smiled at the note and at the fact that Roland didn't pass the note she gave him to Arriane which probably meant he would show it to Daniel . Let the game start she said under her nose and went back to scribbling on her notebook.

**If you like my fan fiction than please let me know it would mean so much :) **


	6. Chapter 6 : Changes

Chapter 6

A hundred and seventy-three torturous minutes later, Arriane was leading Luce to the cafeteria. "What'd ya think?" she asked.

"You were right," Luce said numbly, still recovering from how painfully bleak her first three hours of class had been. "Why would anyone teach such a depressing subject?"

"Aw, Cole'll ease up soon. He puts on his no-guff face every time there's a new student. Anyway," Arriane said, poking Luce, "it could be worse. You could have gotten stuck with Ms. Tross."

Luce glanced down at her schedule. "I have her for biology in the afternoon block," she said with a sinking feeling in her gut.

As Arriane sputtered out a laugh, Luce felt a bump on her shoulder. It was Cam, passing them in the hall on his way to lunch. Luce would have gone sprawling if not for his hand reaching back to steady her , Cam and his tricks she thought.

"Easy there." He shot her a quick smile, and she wondered if he had bumped her intentionally ( she knew well he did ) . But he didn't seem that juvenile. Luce glanced at Arriane to see whether she'd noticed anything. Arriane raised her eyebrows, almost inviting Luce to speak, but neither one of them said a thing.

When they crossed the dusty interior windows separating bleak hall from bleaker cafeteria, Arriane took hold of Luce's elbow.

"Avoid the chicken-fried steak at all costs," she coached as they followed the crowd into the din of the lunchroom. "The pizza's fine, the chili's okay, and actually the borscht ain't bad. Do you like meat loaf?"

"I'm a vegetarian," Luce said. She was glancing around the tables, looking for two people in particular. Daniel and Cam. This is your time Luce she thought.

"Vegetarian, huh?" Arriane pursed her lips. "Hippie parents or your own meager attempt at rebellion?"

Uh, neither, I just don't—"

"Like meat?" Arriane steered Luce's shoulders ninety degrees so that she was looking directly at Daniel, sitting at a table across the room. Luce let out a long exhale. There he was. "Now, does that go for all meat?" Arriane sang loudly. "Like you wouldn't sink your teeth into him?"

Luce slugged Arriane and dragged her toward the lunch line. Arriane was cracking up, but Luce was too pissed off to care .

"I really don't get what your obsession with this guy is i mean common if you like him go ask him out ! "

"i do not ! " Arriane said loudly enough for Daniel to turn to them and stare .

"Stop being in denial Arriane , hes hot yeah but there is something off about him , its ok if you like shady guys like him " Luce smiled "In fact ill go ask him out for you right now " Luce walked away fast even thou she was wearing heels she knew that Arriane would try to stop her but Luce was too fast she was already standing in front of Daniel .

"Hey " she said and smiled at the boy

Shock was clearly visible on his face he put his fork down and looked up at her but said nothing .

"So you know Arriane right ? " Luce asked raising her eyebrow and taking a chair sat opposite to him not taking her eyes off Daniel .

"Yeah i guess seen her around " Daniel replied his voice deep but soft . This was the first time he spoke to Luce since she came here.

A wide grin spread on her face and her eyes lit up she clasped her hands together in delight . "Well she keeps talking about you to me and i think she likes you , so i was wondering would you possibly wanna go out with her ?" Luce bit her bottom lip she was full of stress and she knew Arriane would get mad but the look on Daniels face when she asked him would he go out with Arriane was priceless .

"So ? " she said placing her elbows on the table still not daring to look away . "What's it gonna be yes or no ? "

"Emm .."Daniel began still looking shocked but yet he too did not take his eyes of Luce's "Sure why not " he added picking up his fork from the table . Luce knew he was doing this to hurt her she could tell by the look of satisfaction he carried in his eyes . "Oh no Daniel " she thought "I am winning this game " .

Just as Luce was about to reply Arriane suddenly appeared out of nowhere and began lifting her off the chair . "Im sorry Daniel whatever she said to you ..." she began

"Actually " Luce interrupted ."He said he will go out with you Arriane " Luce said as Arriane was now dragging her by her arms away from Daniels table . "You have a date girl " she said sounding delighted .

Now Daniel looked confused he stared at her as Arriane began dragging her away . "Oh Luce what did you do to yourself " he thought .

"Talk to you later Daniel " was all he heard from Arriane as she and Luce left the cafeteria.

Arriane dragged Luce out of the cafeteria and past the corridor and through big wooden doors that led outside .

"ARE YOU CRAZY ! " she yelled at Luce though she knew Arriane was not mad she was just lost and confused .

"Oh common i did you a favor and he said yes so he must like you too " taking out a cigarette and lighting it Luce looked up at Arriane who looked .. lost .

"Oh Luce " she breathed loudly "What happened to you ? " she said with sorrow in her eyes . Arriane froze as the realized what she just said to Luce she took a deep breath and said in a calm steady voice "Daniel only said yes because hes a nice guy and he didn't want to hurt my feelings "

"But you said he was an asshole before " Smoke escaped from her lips as she looked at Arriane she felt bad knowing that the new Luce was exactly what Arriane hated and she looked down at the mossy ground in guilt . She lifted up her head brushing back her blonde hair . "Look i'm sorry , ill go tell him it was a stupid joke and that i was teasing you " she smiled at her friend .

Arriane lifted her head up and looked at Luce for a short while . Than she smiled and let out a loud breath "Okay under one condition "

"And what is that ? " Luce asked feeling the knot in her stomach slightly loosening

"We dye that ugly hair of yours back to its natural color " she smiled a warm smile

"Fine" Luce threw her hands up . "I hated it anyways " .

"Common i got some black dye in my room " Arriane grabbed Luce's small hand and gently pulled the girl after her laughing ...


	7. Chapter 7 : Science and Faith

Chapter 7

Luce looked at her reflection in the mirror as Arriane was finishing up straightening Luce's long thick now jet black hair . Luce smiled at her own reflection she hated the blonde but she didn't realize how much she actually missed her black hair .

Arriane spun Luce around to face her and looked at her face carefully .

"I love it and all but i think i should cut it do you have a pair of scissors here " Luce asked

"Sure Luce anything for a friend "

_Friend_ Luce felt like her heart stopped and a worm feeling spread through her entire body she was so glad and happy to be called a friend again she wanted to stand up and hug her old friend but she knew she couldn't not now anyways .

"Here you go "Arriane said handing the scissors to Luce "Its a shame though your hair is soo beautiful " she admired Luce's hair and smiled .

"I only want to cut a little bit not too much don't worry " Luce assured her and began to slowly cut her hair .

"Oh you are right you hair is much better now " Arriane gasped

Luce didn't cut much before her hair was nearly touching her ass and now it was just touching the bottom of her ribs .

"See told you it'll be fine " Luce said as her and Arriane walked to Luce's new room .Arriane was helping Luce carry her duffle bag while Luce looked around in search of her room door .

"You know you now look half as descent as you did this morning but we seriously have to do something about your clothes i mean seriously " Arriane raised her brow and eyed Luce's uniform . "How the hell did you not freeze your ass off in this dress which may i point out looks like a top "

"Oh Arriane " Luce couldn't help but laugh . "I love the way my choice of clothing affects your life in so many mattering ways "

"Well if you want to be friends with a crack head like me than you must dress as i approve " the girl joked and Luce and her burst out into laughter .

The walls here were the color of a dusty blackboard—and the whole place was strangely quiet, save for the dull hum of the yellow fluorescent lamps hanging from the water-stained drop-panel ceilings.

Mostly, Luce was surprised to see so many shut doors. Back at Dover, she'd always wished for more privacy, a break from the hallwide dorm parties that sprang up at all hours. You couldn't walk to your room without tripping over a powwow of girls sitting cross-legged in matching jeans, or a lip-locked couple pressed against the wall.

But at Sword & Cross… well, either everyone was already getting started on their thirty-page term papers… or else the socializing here was of a much more behind-closed-doors variety.

Speaking of which, the closed doors themselves were a sight to be seen. If the students at Sword & Cross got resourceful with their dress code violations, they were downright ingenious when it came to personalizing their spaces. Already Luce had walked by one door frame with a beaded curtain, and another with a motion-detecting welcome mat that encouraged her to "move the hell on" when she passed it.

She came to a stop in front of the only blank door in the building. Room 63. " Home bitter home." said Arriane it was obvious from the girls description of this place and people that she didn't really enjoy being in this shit hole Luce fumbled for her key in the front pocket of her backpack, took a deep breath, and opened the door to her cell .

Except it wasn't terrible. Or maybe it wasn't as terrible as she'd been expecting. There was a decent-sized window that slid open to let in some less stifling night air. And past the steel bars, the view of the moonlit commons was actually sort of interesting, if she didn't think too hard about the graveyard that lay beyond it. She had a closet and a little sink, a desk to do her work at - Yeah right like im gonna do my work Luce thought .

"Well " Arriane said while throwing Luce's bag onto the bed "I'll let you unpack , i have some business to attend to " she smile at Luce who was looking around her room .

"Okay see you later " Luce turned to face Arriane , "Thanks Arriane for everything , i know you probably think i'm a bitch but i'm really not its just ... its hard you know " Luce smiled at her friend a little sadly .

"Well Luce don't worry you got a great friend like me to help you out and trust me beginnings are always hard " the girl said as she ran her fingers through her beautiful dark hair , she gave Luce a hug and ran out the door of Luce's new 'room'

Luce looked at the big mirror which hung on her door . Her hair was smooth and very shiny and she couldn't help but think how much more pissed off Daniel will be now that she looks more like her old self . Her hazel eyes flecked with stress and tiredness she really didn't realize how exhausted she was even though she was an angel it was a habit in a way . She looked up and down at her provocative outfit and kicked off her black heels and threw her leather jacket onto her bed . Her afternoon classes had been no better than the morning's dull and exhausting .

She just wanted to unpack her stuff and rest she didn't even bother trying to decorate the place or make it her own , she knew she would be here too long so why would she bother . She unzipped her bag and only managed to take out two t-shirts before she collapsed on her bed with exhaustion .

A knock on her door made Luce shoot up from the bed. She tiptoed to the door and pulled it open. Then she stuck her head into the very empty hallway. She hadn't even heard footsteps outside, and there was no sign of anyone having just knocked.

Except the paper airplane pinned with a brass tack to the center of the corkboard next to her door. Luce smiled to see her name written in black marker along the wing, but when she unfolded the note, all that was written inside was a black arrow pointing straight down the hall.

Arriane had invited her over tonight, she completely forgot . Luce wondered about following the cryptic arrow. She run back to get room and pulled out some black skinny jeans and a white silk t-shirt that exposed a lot of cleavage 'Well if you're gonna break the rules break them with class ' Luce said to herself and quickly threw on her outfit with a pair of converse . She stepped out into the corridor closed her door shut , put her room key in her pocket, and started walking.

She stopped in front of a door on the other side of the hall to check out an oversized poster of Sonny Terry, a blind musician who she knew from her father's scratchy record collection was an incredible blues harmonica player. She leaned forward to read the name on the corkboard and realized with a start that she was standing in front of Roland Sparks's room. Well of course Luce though Roland was always into blues she smiled . A buzzing sound made Luce jump in surprise the reds she thought she looked up and stuck her middle finger up to the camera . Anyway, she'd come here to see Arriane—whose room, she realized, just happened to be directly across the hall from Roland.

Her door was covered with numbers upon numbers of stickers and small posters . They covered all of her door some even covering others Luce could have stood there for hours Then she saw the second paper airplane. She pulled it down from the corkboard and unfolded the message:

_My Darling Luce,_

_If you actually showed up to hang out tonight, props! We'll get along juuust Fine._

_If you bailed on me, then… get your claws off my private note, ROLAND! How many times do I have to tell you? Jeez._

_Anyhow: I know I said to swing by tonight, but I had to dash straight from R&R in the nurse's station (the silver lining of my Taser treatment today) to a makeup biology review with the Albatross. Which is to say—rain check?_

_Yours psychotically, A_

Luce stood with the note in her hands , Behind her, a door cracked open. A sliver of white light opened up on the floor beneath her feet. Luce heard music being played inside a room.

"Whatcha doin'?" It was Roland, standing in his doorway in a torn white T-shirt and jeans. His dreads were gathered in a yellow rubber band on top of his head and he held a harmonica up next to his lips.

"I came to see Arriane," Luce said, trying to keep herself from looking past him to see if anyone else was in the room. "We were supposed to—"

"Nobody's home," he said, cryptically. Luce didn't know if he meant Arriane, or the rest of the kids in the dorm, or what. He played a few bars on the harmonica, keeping his eyes on her the whole time. Then he held open the door a little bit wider and raised his eyebrows. She couldn't tell whether or not he was inviting her to come in.

"Well, I was just swinging by on my way to the library," she lied quickly, turning back the way she'd come. "There's a book I need to check out."

"Luce," Roland called.

She turned around. They hadn't officially met yet, and she hadn't expected him to know her name. His eyes flashed a smile at her and he used the harmonica to point in the opposite direction. "Library's that way," he said. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Be sure to check out the special collections in the east wing. They're really something."

She stopped and turned around to face Roland who was still standing in the hall leaning against his door frame "Thanks " she said and began walking away towards the library.


	8. Chapter 8 : Trouble in paradise

Chapter 8

A warm feeling came over Luce as she looked around the library. She'd always loved the faintly sweet musty way that only a roomful of books smelled. She took comfort in the soft occasional sound of turning pages. The library at Dover had always been her escape, and Luce felt almost overwhelmed with relief as she realized that this one might offer her the same sense of sanctuary. She could hardly believe that this place belonged to Sword & Cross. It was almost… it was actually… inviting. She always loved books since she could ever remember back in 1854 in England she had an entire library full of book just for herself .

The walls were a deep mahogany and the ceilings were high. A fireplace with a brick hearth lay along one wall. There were long wooden tables lit by old-fashioned green lamps, and aisles of books that went on farther than she could see. The sound of her boots was hushed by a thick Persian carpet as Luce wandered past the entryway.

A few students were studying, none that Luce knew by name, but even the more punky-looking kids seemed less threatening with their heads bent over books. She neared the main circulation desk, which was a great round station at the center of the room. It was strewn with stacks of papers and books and had a homey academic messiness that reminded Luce of her parents' house. The books were piled so high that Luce almost didn't see the librarian seated behind them. She was rooting through some paperwork with the energy of someone panning for gold. Her head popped up as Luce approached.

"Hello!" The woman smiled—she actually smiled—at Luce. Her hair was not gray but silver, with a kind of brilliance that sparkled even in the soft library light. Her face looked old and young at the same time. She had pale, almost incandescent skin, bright black eyes, and a tiny, pointed nose. When she spoke to Luce, she pushed up the sleeves of her white cashmere sweater, exposing stacks and stacks of pearl bracelets decorating both of her wrists. "Can I help you find something?" she asked in a happy whisper.

'Well you're definitely not human " Luce thought . "Yes hi i'm Luce i'm new here could you tell me where the east wing is?"she regarded the librarian carefully .

The woman gave Luce a you-don't-look-like-a-reading-type look but after she gave her a friendly warm smile "Right that way," she said, pointing toward a row of tall windows on the other side of the room. "I'm Miss Sophia, and if my roster's correct, you're in my religion seminar on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Oh, we're going to have some fun!" She winked. "In the meantime, if you need anything else, I'm here. A pleasure to meet you, Luce."

Luce smiled her thanks, told Miss Sophia happily that she'd see her tomorrow in class, and started toward the windows. She so knew who Luce was she could tell by the intimate way she said her name .

She'd just cleared the main study area and was passing through the tall, elegant book stacks when something dark and macabre passed over her head. She glanced up.

"Fuck ! are you serious " Luce said rather loudly , she covered her mouth straight after just as Daniel turned around to look at her . His eyes studied her for a minute but she just smiled and whispered "Sorry" to him and turned away approaching a book shelf . He looked at her for a few more seconds and than turned back around .

He was leaning over a podium that said SPECIAL COLLECTIONS in white letters. The sleeves of his worn leather jacket were pushed up around his elbows, and his blond hair glowed under the lights. His shoulders were hunched over, and he was sketching something , she watched the slight movement of his body as he sketched just like old times she though .

"What are you doing over here?" he asked. He'd closed his sketchbook and was looking at her solemnly. His full lips were set in a straight line and his gray eyes looked dull. He didn't look angry for a change; he looked exhausted.

"Well Arriane and i were suppose to hang out but she bailed on me and than i met Roland and i said i wanted to go to the library and he told me to check out east wing but i should have known better " Luce bit her lip and looked back at Daniel from the bookshelf's .He didn't say anything he just looked at her . "And listen sorry about lunch today i mean she just keeps talking about how i'm so into you and it pissed me off and i decided to piss her off i hope your not mad or anything " Luce said taking down a big old looking book from one of the high shelves , she just felt careless towards Daniel and she knew that it gave her an advantage over him .

"No its alright " he sighted and rubbed his temples "She was talking to me and we sorted it out " he looked up at her .

"Oh that's great so i'm so glad " she said standing on her tiptoes trying to put the book back in its place .

"Yeah " Daniel got up and approached Luce "we still decided to go out " he added and took the book from her and their fingertips touched . Luce just stood still but she could hear Daniel sucking his breath in , he reached the shelf and placed the book back down .

"Thanks for that " Luce brushed her hair behind her eyes and stepped away from Daniel to another shelf .

"No problem , and hey " he said and for the first time he smiled at her "your hair is way nicer like that suits you better " .

She watched him as he disappeared between the bookshelf's , "Game on Daniel " she said quietly and smirked .

Luce marched down the corridor looking for the room with the number 44 on it . Cams room , if Daniel wanted to annoy her and make her jealous why couldn't she do the same ? She came to a stop next to a door painted all black with the number 44 painted on it with spray paint . She straightened up and knocked on the door a few seconds later Cam opened the door light poured out of him room and his eyes sparkled like stars .

"Hey " Luce said smiling at him .

Cam just stood there frozen for a second as if he was stunned to see her here , but than a wide smile spread over his face . "Well hello Luce what are you doing here ? " he leaned against his door frame and regarded Luce .

"My dear old friend Cam i have a favor to ask of you and its quiet a strange one but trust me it will all be worth it - but before she could finish Randy her attendant approached them "Well well what are you doing here so late ? " Randy raised her big eyebrows at both the teens .

"I was just having a friendly conversation with my dear friend Cam here" Luce said through her teeth.

"Yeah , and than i was planning on luring her into my room and having some sex"Cam winked at the attendant .

"That's enough from both of you DETENTION TOMORROW "crack of dawn" the cemetery don't be late , and you missy i shall escort you to your room "

"Wow i feel like i'm a princess again been a long time " Luce laughed and followed Randy to her room .

"Oh Luce " Cam shook his head and disappeared into him room .


	9. Chapter 9 : All i want

Chapter 9

A loud creaking noise woke Luce up from her deep sleep she slowly opened her eyes and looked around . It was still dark outside so she didn't see much . She rubbed at her eyes and slowly crawled out of bed . Getting detention on her second day of school was not on her to do list and honestly she was too exhausted to do anything , but she had to talk to Cam and this was probably her only chance to speak to him before Arriane scared him off .

Luce looked at her exhausted reflection in the mirror and stared in horror , she quickly ran to the bathroom and took a quick shower . 10 minutes later she was already dressed . Today she wore black leggings with her favorite pair of black boots and a loose black sweater which she had forever and it had a lot of holes in it , she didn't really care so she quickly threw it on and began doing her makeup . A black smokey eye-shadow she wore brought out the hazel in her eyes and to it she added some pink lip-gloss . Grabbing a hair brush she quickly ran it through her hair and than tied it up into a messy bun on top of her head which made her cheekbones stand out and her eyes to appear even bigger .

Luce's pace was fast and determined as she rushed to Cam's room . The school was quiet and empty all the doors closed and the light's slightly dimmed only the red's gave out a bright spark of red onto the walls .No teachers were around the corridors so Luce slowed down her pace , she was nervous about this telling Cam the truth but also excited in a way to play on Daniel's nerves and she would be able to hang out with Cam more which was a plus .

The door to Cam's room was still the same as it was the last night and instead of knocking Luce just opened it and barged into his room carelessly . His walls were painted grey with a lot of posters on them , books and clothing covered his floor and on his small window he had a black curtain blocking out the light . His bed was just on the corner of the window with black messy sheets on top of it , Cam himself was lying still asleep in the bed with a pillow over his head and the covers half covering his body . His thick lashes casted shadows on his sharp cheekbones and his hair was a mess , he was breathing slowly and softly and he looked so peaceful and vulnerable when he slept . Luce stood there gazing at sleeping Cam not waking him up for a short minute than she walked over to the bed and jumped on him laughing .

"Ummm what the fuck dude ? " Cam shot up looking shocked he glanced at Luce and slowly relaxed falling back on the bed .

"Well Hello sleeping beauty " Luce said as she sat on Cams stomach grinning at the boy "We have detention because of you , and i need to talk to you we have some serious business " she smirked at him and jumped off the and spun around examining his room . "Well get up ! " Luce said loudly and she clapped her hands .

Cam still looked at her wild eyed and than slowly crawled out of his bed . He was only wearing black sweat pants and his chest was bear exposing his harm muscles . Luce didn't even glance at Cam until he was standing next to her looking at her with confusion . "What do you want ? " he raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest .

"Well first of all stop showing off your six pack i know you got one but it took you long enough to be perfectly honest " she now looked at Cam and his crystal eyes .His mouth was set in a straight line but he only moved closer to her . " Second of all as i said before i have an offer for you " she now took a step closer to him and now his arms were softly touching her shoulders .

"What kind of offer ? " Cam regarded her with a impressed look .

"Well we both know that you know that i know what i really am i mean i knew your not stupid and besides i need you " Luce now lifted her arm and hung it on Cam's shoulder . "I want you to be my angel boyfriend " she raised her eyebrows and bit her lip .

"You what !? " he looked shocked but Luce knew that he seen this coming .

"Well you are so trying to hit on me just to piss off Daniel just because you know he can't be with me coz of that bullshit curse and i my dear old friend i am trying to piss him off too .You see the thing is -" she moved even closer to Cam taking up all the space there was between them , he let his arms fall and he was standing still their chests touching . "Daniel thinks he can hurt me by fake dating Arriane but what he doesn't know is that i'm me as in the Luce me and honestly i don't care sooo "

"So you want us to date and piss off Daniel for our own benefit and i am the only one who knows who you really are and therefore i am the only one who can really help you " a wide smile appeared on Cam's face "Well Luce i knew you were sneaky but to be this good ? i under-estimated you " he lifted up his hand and placed it at the small of her back .

"Well thank you i do learn from the best , and... " she moved closer to Cam and leaned into his ear feeling his hot breath on her neck "I think it will be fun having some hot and heavy action with my friend here don't you think ? " she moved away from his ear and slowly approached his soft lips , she skimmed her lips against his feeling the heat on her body she kissed him quickly but softly and she could feel his hand tightening on her back . "So " she moved away from the now shocked Cam "Is that a yes ? "

He laughed softly and hugged Luce "Anything for an old friend " he let her go just stared at her small pretty delicate face .

"Get ready lazy ass we have detention in 10 and for god's sake put on a shirt you look li- " but she got cut off by the sound of opening door's and in that moment a sleepy looking Rowland walked into Cam's dark room .

"Umm Cam we have deten- " Roland cut off and now looked at a shirtless Cam and an excited looking Luce through his sleepy eyes " Um- ugh sorry to interrupt guys i'm leaving now i didn't see anything umm-" Roland now looked really uncomfortable as he moved away towards the door "See you at detention Cam " was all he said as he left the dark haired boys' room .

"Well that was totally awkward " laughed Luce but Cam only looked at her ."What ? " Luce asked confused Cam was always so mysterious and she always found him so interesting .

"Well it's just ... you've changes Luce and i don't know if for the better , i mean you're different you don't give a fuck about anything or anyone you just don't care "

"Oh my dear Cam .. i just grew up you should try it too and than you will realize how pathetic everything really is , but i think you know that already " she placed her small hand on his cheek and smiled at him kindly .

"No i think it was for the best " he laughed along with her .

"So go get dressed i'm not going to wait forever " she dropped her hand and approached the window she opened the curtains and admired the view "Well it look's like it's going to be a nice day "


	10. Chapter 10 : Game on

Chapter 10

Cam and Luce left the building not saying a word as they rushed to get to the cemetary on time .

"My gosh Cam iv'e never seen a guy do his hair for so long " she said id trying to catch up with Cam's fast pace .

"Oh shut up Luce you didn't give me enough time you may have noticed i was kinda busy making out with some girl " he said stretching his arms out into the sun . Cam was tall Luce never really noticed which was ironic as she knew him for thousands of years . "Hahah very funny but you didn't complain " she ran up to him quickly as he was approaching the gate of the cemetery .

"And i wanted to look good for my new girlfriend , you know i have to make a good impression on her you know " he winked at his friend and they laughed together entering the cemetery .

The delicate gates were all that divided the cemetery from the parking lot. Pretty remarkable for a school with so much barbed wire everywhere else. Luce ran her hand along the gates, tracing the ornate floral pattern with her fingers. The gates must have dated back to the Civil War days Arriane was talking about, back when the cemetery was used to bury fallen soldiers. When the school attached to it was not a home for wayward psychos. When the whole place was a lot less overgrown and shadowy.

It was strange—the rest of the campus was as flat as a sheet of paper, but somehow, the cemetery had a concave, bowl-like shape. From here, she could see the slope of the whole vast thing before her. Row after row of simple headstones lined the slopes like spectators at an arena.

But toward the middle, at the lowest point of the cemetery, the path through the grounds twisted into a maze of larger carved tombs, marble statues, and mausoleums. Probably for Confederate officers, or just the soldiers who came from money. They looked like they'd be beautiful up close. But from here, the sheer weight of them seemed to drag the cemetery down, almost like the whole place was being swallowed into a drain.

"Well this place is a total shit-hole " Luce laughed as she leaped through a bush of thorns .

"Tell me about it , i honestly don't know how it's still running " Cam laughed and helped Luce hop through another bush .

They were heading to what Cam called a monolith before , it was the largest stone structure, which rose up from the middle of the deepest part of the cemetery.

The sun still hadn't risen, but it was getting closer, they tore past the rows of plain headstones. At one point they must have been upright, but by now they were so old that most of them tipped over to one side or the other, giving the whole place the look of a set of morbid dominoes.

"Could they not find a better place to have detention at i mean trying to get there is enough punishment " Luce said as she tried to hop over the big puddle of muck .

"Well " Cam laughed "That's the whole point of it , but don't worry it get's worse " he assured Luce who now looked pissed off . "How did you get here anyways ? i mean you had to do something bad to get a spot in this school and that bracelet " he pointed at Luce's small wrist "That's a side of you iv'e never seen "

"Well during the summer i was with this guy , we were full on making out and all and than the shadows came and after he just lip up in flames i being the person i am i didn't run away i just stood there than they found me passed out in the cabin the police investigated everything and they thought i was the one who killed him but i denied everything and than they sent me here so yeah here i am and that's all to my story really " Luce walked carefully trying to avoid the puddles and bushes .

"So he just lit up in flames just like that ? " Cam looked confused

"Just like that you know all those years the shadows never really had any impact on my life they just started to appear more often lately ,I guess Lucifer just doesn't want me dating so he sends his little spies after me "

"Jealous much ? "

"To remind me that i'm his forever and every or something like that " was all she said .They were getting closer to the building and all they had to do was climb a small hill where the building stood on . "Oh and by the way you don't have to worry you're not blowing up in flames you're an angel and he was human and besides shadows don't affect us " she winked at him and looked at his careless expression . "Oh Cam and that's why i love you , you just don't care " she put her arm around him and smiled "I feel like this is a beginning of a beautiful romance "

He laughed and put his arm around her and hugged her "Well let's get this show started ".

Luce and Cam walked side by side as they stepped through the stone entrance and into a small stone room .

Ms. Tross stood with her hands on her hips, wearing a variation of yesterday's loose black muumuu. Her thin mouse-brown hair was plastered to her scalp and her dull brown eyes showed only exhaustion .

Behind the Albatross were Arriane, some girl with bleach blonde hair who Luce remembered Arriane called Molly and Roland, scattered around a circle of plinths that all faced a large central statue of an angel. Compared to the rest of the statues, this one seemed newer, whiter, grander. And leaning up against the angel's sculpted thigh was Daniel.

Luce glared at Cam who was still standing beside her and he smiled at her like they were sharing a joke only they knew . Daniel stiffened and looked away from them and Roland still looked uncomfortable only Arriane looking live and energetic as she stormed towards Luce with a hint of anger in her eyes .

"I better scram before our dear friend Arriane scratches my eyes out " Cam laughed and gently placed his hand on Luce's arm and walked off towards Roland .

"Hey " Luce said knowing what was coming next .Arriane didn't hide her dislike towards Cam and Luce knew that well .

"What the hell are you doing at detention and what the hell are you doing with Cam ?! " she threw her longs arms up

"I could ask you the same question Arri " Luce folded her arms over her chest and glared at the girl .

"Well i'm not doing anything with Cam but i can't say the same thing about you " she said sounding aggravated .

"What i do with Cam is mine and his business Arriane i assure you that you shouldn't worry about it I can handle myself thank you very much but what should concern you is what you're going to wear to your's and Daniels date ! "

"What are you talking about what date ? " Arriane looked confused

"Your's and Daniel's date ? he told me when i met him at the library last night ! I'm so excited Arriane you got a date " she threw her hands up in excitement

"What what ar-" but she got cut off by .

"Now, I'm sure you all remember whatever despicable indiscretion you committed to find yourself here."Luce glared at Cam who was already smirking at her she rolled her eyes and looked back at but before that she glanced at Daniel he was wearing the busted black leather jacket and the bright red scarf she'd fixated on yesterday. Luce took in his messy blond hair, which looked like it hadn't yet been smoothed down after sleep. He lifted his head up and glanced at her , for a second they locked there eyes and Luce gave out a small smile .

"You can think about that for the next two hours while you work. Pair up. You know the drill." continued . "Okay, who wants a protegee?" she glared at Luce and looked around the room . "Actually i'll save you all the trouble Daniel you'll be her partner for today .

Luce's head shot up and she began protesting but just raised a hand and stopped her "Save it and do what i say " was all she said . Arriane looked satisfied and smiled stupidly , Cam was just standing there looking at Luce as she rolled her eyes and smiled at him .


	11. Chapter 11: Payback

Chapter 11

The other kids hopped off tombs they'd been sitting on and trooped toward a shed. Luce followed them and suddenly felt someone next to her ..Daniel she looked at his uncomfortable and angry face and than looked away . She glanced overhead to find herself flanked by two giant statues. The one closer to her looked like a Rodin. A nude man and woman stood tangled in an embrace. She'd studied French sculpture back at Dover, and always thought Rodins were the most romantic pieces. But now it was hard to look at the embracing lovers without thinking of Daniel. Who was in fact standing inches away from her .Her body stiffened and she stood still gazing at the sculpture for a minute .

"So. Do you want the avenging angel, or the fleshy embracing lovers?" Daniel asked her his voice soft .

Where's the avenging angel?" she asked Daniel with a sigh.

"Good choice. Over here." Daniel led Luce to a massive marble sculpture of an angel saving the ground from the strike of a thunderbolt. It might have been an interesting piece, back in the day when it was first carved. But now it just looked old and dirty, covered in mud and green moss , and she found it was totally ironic that she picked this sculpture .

"I don't get it," Luce said. "What do we do?"

"Well we scrub it " was all he said as he began climbing on top of the angel swinging his legs over the statue's thunderbolt-thwarting arm, as if the whole thing were a sturdy old oak tree for him to climb.

She shook her head and began cleaning away damp leaves from the base of the statue . After three minutes her arm was killing her she stopped for a second and sat gently at the base of the statue she looked around and seen a flash of Cam's green eyes on her he smiled and went back to work she shook her head and got back she glanced up and suddenly her body went still Daniel was staring at her with sorrow in his eyes but he didn't look away from her . A cold feeling went through her body and for a split second she felt sorry for him , the way he looked at her like she was one of those sculptures fragile and beautiful but fierce and strong at the same time . She gave him a sad smile and went back to cleaning the sculpture .

She looked up at Daniel again who was working very diligently using a wire brush to scrub some mold off the bronze inscription on a tomb. He'd even pushed up the sleeves of his sweater, and Luce could see his muscles straining as he went at it.

"Soo..."Daniel broke off the silence after a few minutes of awkward silence . "What's up with you and Cam ? " his voice was curious but at the same time he managed to make it plain .

"Whachya mean ? " Luce moved up closer to Daniel to help him with the other half of the sculpture now they were at eye-level , she regarded him carefully his lips were set in a straight line and he was focused on the sculpture .

" Well you keep smiling at each other and he keeps staring at you and than there is also the fact that you came here together " he stopped cleaning the sculpture and looked at Luce . "Be careful with him Luce he will lead you on and than break your heart ." he looked concerned about her but she didn't buy it .

"Look - " she put her scrubbing brush into the pocket of her hoodie "Me and Cam are friends and we like to hang out together and he really isn't that bad , he's not exactly the nicest person around but he's not a total dick either and trust me i can handle myself but thanks " she smiled at him but he didn't return it . "Besides you shouldn't worry about me what you should worry about is finally asking Arriane on that date " Luce pointed her brush at Daniel "and now my dear friend is the perfect time to do it " she poked him with the brush and smiled "Well go on " .

Daniel looked at Arriane and than jumped off the statue landing swiftly on his feet ."Fine " he began walking away towards Arrianes direction .

"What's up with him "Cam appeared in front of Luce and leaned against the statue .

"He's asking Arriane out " she laughed

"Well this will be interesting " the boy raised his eyebrows and looked towards Daniel and Arriane .

Arriane was standing by a statue of some Greek god when Daniel approached her she smiled at him and than they started talking .The girls face was serious and than she began laughing and looked towards Luce's direction . Cam and Luce both turned around pretending to admire some other sculptures . Cam put his arm around Luce as she smiled and slowly turned back to Daniel's direction . Arriane's eyes widened and she whispered something to Daniel than his back stiffened and he turned around his eyes flaming with rage . Luce and Cam both smiled at Daniel and Luce thumb-ed up towards them . Daniel rolled his eyes and turned back to Arriane , she lifted her eyebrows up and laughed softly than after she nodded slowly and Daniel hugged her.

"Game on " Luce whispered and Cam laughed . Daniel was walking back towards Luce with no emotions on his face what so ever .

"Well i better go before Daniel tries to strangle me " Cam walked away back towards Roland and Luce laughed loudly . shot her a sharp look and she climbed up on the statue and continued scrubbing . "Well how'd it go ? " she looked excited and there was a happy note to her voice .

"It went good , she said yes " was all Daniel said and went back to scrubbing the statue without another word .

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Callie reprimanded Luce on Wednesday evening.

It was just before sundown and Luce was folded into the Sword & Cross phone cubby, a tiny beige confine in the middle of the front office area. It was far from private, but at least no one else was loafing around. Her arms were still sore from the graveyard shift at yesterday's detention . Luce missed her best friend from Dover they only knew each other for 3 years and she didn't know about Luce's 'immortality' thing but Luce grew close to the girl and she missed her .

It felt so good to hear Callie's high-pitched voice, Luce almost didn't care that she was being yelled at.

"We promised we wouldn't go an hour without speaking," Callie continued accusingly. "I thought someone had eaten you alive! Or that maybe they stuck you in solitary in one of those straitjackets where you have to chew through your sleeve to scratch your face. For all I knew, you could have descended into the ninth circle of—"

"Okay, Mom," Luce said, laughing and settling into her role as Callie's breathing instructor. "Relax." For a split second, she felt guilty that she hadn't used her one phone call to dial up her real mom. But she knew Callie would wig out if she ever discovered Luce hadn't seized her very first opportunity to get in touch. And in a weird way, it was always soothing to hear Callie's hysterical voice. It was one of the many reasons the two were such a good fit: Her best friend's over-the-top paranoia actually had a calming effect on Luce. She could just picture Callie in her dorm room at Dover, pacing her bright orange area rug, with Oxy smeared over her t-zone and pedicure foam separating her still-wet fuchsia toenails.

"Don't Mom me!" Callie huffed. "Start talking. What are the other kids like? Are they all scary and popping diuretics like in the movies? What about your classes? How's the food?"

Through the phone, Luce could hear Roman Holiday playing in the background on Callie's tiny TV. Luce's favorite scene had always been the one where Audrey Hepburn woke in Gregory Peck's room, still convinced the night before had all been a dream. Luce closed her eyes and tried to picture the shot in her mind. Mimicking Audrey's drowsy whisper, she quoted the line she knew Callie would recognize: "There was a man, he was so mean to me. It was wonderful."

"Okay, Princess, it's your life I want to hear about," Callie teased.

Unfortunately, there was nothing about Sword & Cross that Luce would even consider describing as could tell her about Daniel and Cam but she wanted to avoid that topic as much as possible . Luce rested her head against the beige linoleum of the cubby walls. Someone had carved the words BIDING MY TIME.

Callie was big on guys making an effort to show they were worthy of Luce knew that sooner or later she would ask about the boys here . She'd want to hear things like how many times he'd held open a door for Luce, or whether he'd noticed how good her French accent was. Callie didn't think there was anything wrong with guys writing the kind of sappy love poems Luce could never take seriously. Luce would come up severely short on things to say about Daniel. In fact, Callie'd be much more interested in hearing about someone like Cam. Daniel was just boring he was kind and caring and all but Cam was more exciting and honestly there was nothing going on with Luce and Daniel and she wanted it to stay that way .

"Well, there is this guy here," Luce whispered into the phone.

"I knew it!" Callie squealed. "Name."

Luce cleared her throat. "Cam."

"Direct, uncomplicated. I can dig it. Start from the beginning."

"Well, we kinda made out in his room ."

"Wow Luce you work fast what's he like ."

"Well—" Luce broke off. The sound of footsteps in the lobby silenced her. She leaned out the side of the cubby and craned her neck to see who was interrupting the best fifteen minutes she'd had in three whole days.

Cam was walking toward her.

Speak of the devil. She swallowed the horrifically lame words on the tip of her tongue: more like fallen angel

Cam's demeanor was casual, as if by some stroke of luck he hadn't heard what she'd been saying. He seemed to be the only kid at Sword & Cross who didn't change out of his school uniform the minute classes were over. But the black-on-black look worked for him made him look mysterious and sexy and black on Luce made her look like a bad-ass demon hunter or something .

Cam was twirling a golden pocket watch that swung from a long chain looped around his index finger. Luce followed its bright arc for a moment, almost mesmerized, until Cam clapped the face of the watch to a stop in his fist. He looked down at it, then up at her.

"Well who do i see here my girl ." He winked at Luce. "I thought I signed up for the seven o'clock phone call." He shrugged. "But I must have written it down wrong."

Luce's heart sank when she glanced at her own watch. She and Callie had barely said fifteen words to each other—how could her fifteen minutes already be up?

"Luce? Hello?" Callie sounded impatient on the other end of the phone. "You're being weird. Is there something you're not telling me? Have you replaced me already with some reform school cutter? What about the boy?"

"Shhh," Luce hissed into the phone. "Cam, wait," she called, holding the phone away from her mouth. He was already halfway out the door. "Wait up , I was just getting off."

Cam slipped the pocket watch into the front of his black blazer and doubled back toward Luce. He raised his eyebrows and laughed when he heard Callie's voice growing louder from the earpiece. "Don't you dare hang up on me," Callie protested. "You've told me nothing. Nothing!"

"I don't want to piss anyone off," Cam joked, gesturing at the barking telephone. "Take my slot, you can get me back another time."

"No," Luce said quickly. As badly as she wanted to keep talking to Callie her time was up and she had to suck it up .

"Callie," she said, sighing into the phone. "I gotta go. I'll call again as soon as—" But by then there was just the vague buzz of a dial tone in her ear. The phone itself had been rigged to cap each call at fifteen minutes. Now she saw the tiny timer blinking 0:00 on its base. They hadn't even gotten to say goodbye and now she'd have to wait another whole week to call. Time stretched out in Luce's mind like an endless gulf.

"BFF?" Cam asked, leaning up against the cubby next to Luce. His dark eyebrows were still arched "I can practically smell the best-friend vibe through the phone." He bent forward towards Luce and she crossed her arms over her chest .

"Haha funny who do you have to call ? Lucifer to report to him about all the angel business ? If you are tell him i give him my best and tell him i said to stop sending people to look over me coz its getting annoying ." she laughed dryly .

"Well no actually i'm not just business of my own " he didn't seem surprised about the Lucifer side comment at all he just stood there and looked at her .

"Let me guess." Cam straightened back up and lifted his chin changing the subject "She wanted to know all about the reform school bad boys?"

"No!" Luce shook her head but she knew Cam was only kidding. She took a stab at joking back. "I mean, I told her there's not a single good one here."

"Oh Luce i'm hurt " he placed his hand over his chest and acted as if he were shot or stabbed . "You're not the best of girlfriend's you know might have to consider dumping you " he laughed and leaned closer to Luce .

"Oh im sorry Cam i really didn't mean to hurt your feelings how will you ever forgive me " she moved a step closer to him and looked straight into his eyes .

"I have an idea " he leaned into her and kissed her gently , his lips were soft on hers and she could taste something sweet and minty on them . He wrapped his hand around her waist and she wrapped her arm on his neck . She cut off the kiss but still held onto Cam's neck smiling .

"Wow " Cam said breathlessly "I think i'll keep you after all " She laughed gently and let go of his neck but he still held her gently . He was smiling at her and kept glancing at the door mischievously .

"What ? " Luce asked confused and glanced at the door and in that moment it opened and no other than Daniel Grigori walked in .


	12. Chapter 12 : The Call

Chapter 12

Daniel actually looked kind of wrecked. His blond hair drooped over his eyes, and when they settled on Luce and Cam, Luce watched them narrow. She backed away from Cam as Daniel looked away . For the first time she felt uncomfortable being around Cam he straightened up and took a step back glancing at Daniel .

Daniel just nodded in their direction and didn't slow down as he passed.

When Luce looked at Cam, he was watching Daniel. He turned to Luce and said, more loudly than he needed to, "I almost forgot to tell you. Having a little party in my room tonight after Social. I'd love for you to come." and winked at her .

Luce suddenly felt a sick feeling in her stomach , she was not in the mood for their flirting now . She placed her two fingers on her temples and rubbed them gently .

Daniel was still within earshot. Luce had no idea what this Social thing was, but she was supposed to meet Arriane beforehand. They were supposed to walk over together.

Her eyes were fixed on the back of Daniel's head, and she knew she needed to answer Cam about his party, and it really shouldn't be so hard, but when Daniel turned around and looked back at her with eyes she swore were mournful, the phone behind her started ringing, and Cam reached for it and said, "I've got to take this, Luce. You'll be there?"

"Yes," Luce told Cam. "Yes."

"I still don't see why we have to run," Luce was panting twenty minutes later. She was trying to keep up with Arriane as they scrambled back across the commons toward the auditorium for the mysterious Wednesday Night Social, which Arriane still hadn't explained. Luce had barely enough to time to make it upstairs to her room, to slick on more lip gloss and her better jeans and a dark blue low cut t-shirt . Luce sloshed to a halt just before she'd have landed in a scarily muddy patch on the lawn. "Somebody please tell me where we're going!"

"Wednesday night," Arriane said flatly. "Social Night."

"Like… a dance or something?" Luce asked

Arriane hooted. "A dance with death by boredom. The term 'social' is typical Sword & Cross doublespeak. See, they're required to schedule social events for us, but they are also terrified of scheduling social events for us. Sticky predicky."

"So instead," she added, "they have these really awful events like movie nights followed by lectures about the movie "

"Tonight, my dear," Arriane drawled, "we get off easy. All we have to do is snore through one of the three movies on rotation in the Sword & Cross video library. "

"Hold on," Luce said, tiptoeing around the quicksand and lowering her voice to a whisper as they approached the front office of the school. "If you've seen these movies so many times, why the rush to get here?"

Luce pulled open the heavy metal doors to the "auditorium," which, was a euphemism for a regular old room with low, drop-paneled ceilings and chairs arranged to face a blank white wall.

"Don't want to get stuck in the hot seat next to Mr. Cole," Arriane explained, pointing at the teacher. His nose was buried deep inside a thick book, and he was surrounded by the few remaining empty chairs in the room.

As the girls stepped through the metal detector at the door, Arriane said, "Whoever sits there has to help pass out his weekly 'mental health' surveys."

"Which wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to stay late to analyze the findings," she finished.

"Thereby missing," Arriane said with a grin, steering Luce toward the second row as she whispered, "the after-party."

Finally they'd gotten down to the heart of the matter. Luce chuckled.

"I heard about that," she said, feeling slightly with it for a change. "It's in Cam's room, right?"

Arriane looked at Luce for a second and ran her tongue across her teeth. Then she looked past, almost through, Luce. "Hey, Todd," she called, waving with just the tips of her fingers. She pushed Luce into one seat, claimed the safe spot next to her (still two seats down from Mr. Cole), and patted the hot seat. "Come sit with us, T-man!"

Todd, who'd been shifting his weight in the doorway, looked immensely relieved to be given the directive, any directive. He started toward them, swallowing. No sooner had he fumbled into the seat than Mr. Cole looked up from his book, cleaned his glasses on his handkerchief, and said, "Todd, I'm glad you're here. I'm wondering if you can help me with a small favor after the film. You see, the Venn diagram is a very useful tool for…"

Mean!" Luce regarded Arriane who just brushed her comment off .

Arriane shrugged and produced a giant bag of popcorn from her carpetbag. "I can only look after so many new students," she said, tossing a buttery kernel at Luce. "Lucky you."

As the lights in the room dimmed, Luce looked around until her eyes landed on Cam. When his eyes met hers, she could feel a smile spreading on her face he returned it and winked at her , she laughed softly under her breath and turned back to Arriane who was now looking at Luce with her eyes slightly narrowed and her lip set in a straight line . "What " Luce raised her eyebrow .

"Nothing , it's nothing " Arriane turned back around to her seat and looked straight ahead .

Daniel rolled in with Roland, late enough that Randy had already taken a head count, late enough that the only remaining seats were on the floor at the front of the room. He passed through the beam of light from the projector and Luce noticed for the first time a silver chain around his neck, and some sort of medallion tucked inside his T-shirt. Then he dipped completely out of her view. She couldn't even see his profile.

"Hey " a voice said behind her , she stiffened up she knew well who's voice that was .

"Hey Daniel " Arriane said sounding happy "I saved ye a seat " she pointed at the two seats beside Luce .

"Cool thanks " he flashed her and Luce a big smile the bags under his eyes gone .

Daniel sat right beside her and she could feel his skin brushing against hers , she straightened up and tried to ignore him and enjoy the movie .

As it turned out, Starman wasn't very funny, but the other students' constant Jeff Bridges impersonations were. It was hard for Luce to stay focused on the plot. Plus, she was getting that uncomfortable icy feeling at the back of her neck. Something was about to happen.

When the shadows came this time, Luce was expecting them. Anger and frustration boiled up in her she was not in the mood for Lucifer and his spies she tried to ignore them and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat . A shiver went through her spine and she began looking around and caught Daniel looking at her .

"You ok ?" Daniel mouthed

Luce nodded and hugged her shoulders, pretending she was merely cold. She wished she was, but this particular chill had nothing to do with Sword & Cross's overzealous air conditioner.

She could feel the shadows tugging at her feet under her chair. They stayed like that, deadweight for the whole movie she felt like getting up grabbing those shadows and ripping them through shreds but everyone was watching , and every minute dragged on like an eternity.


	13. Chapter 13 : Sound of Love

Chapter 13

An hour later, Arriane pressed her eye up against the peephole of Cam's dorm room door. "Yoo-hoo," she sang, giggling. "The festivities are here!"

She produced a hot-pink feather boa from the same magic carpetbag the bag of popcorn had come from. "Give me a boost," she said to Luce, dangling her foot in the air.

Luce hooked her fingers together and positioned them under Arriane's black boot. She watched as Arriane pushed off the ground and used the boa to cover the face of the hallway surveillance camera while she reached around the back of the device and switched it off.

"That's not suspicious or anything," Luce said.

Arriane slung the boa over Luce's shoulders, and Luce laughed and started to shimmy to the Motown song they could hear through the door.

A whoosh of cigarette smoke, blasting music, and suddenly Cam's open arms greeted them.

"You made it," he said, smiling at Luce. Even in the dim light, his lips had a berry-stained glow. When he folded her in for a hug and kissed her cheek .

Behind Cam, the small, dark room was crammed with people. Roland was in one corner, at the turntable, holding up records to a black light. The couple Luce had seen on the quad a few days before cozied up against the window. The preppy boys with the white oxford shirts were all huddled up together, occasionally checking out the girls. Arriane wasted no time shooting across the room toward Cam's desk, which looked like it was doubling as a bar. Almost immediately, she had a champagne bottle between her legs and was laughing as she tried to pry off the cork.

"Well " Luce looked up at Cam as he put his arm around her "Let's party " and they both laughed and strode to Arriane who now was drinking champagne and dancing .

Luce turned to the rest of the party, and the first thing she saw was Daniel. But she didn't think he liked Cam. Still, he was sitting cross-legged on the bed, his white T-shirt glowing violet in the black light. As soon as her eyes found him she quickly looked away not wanting to see the look on his face when he seen her and Cam together .

Arriane, who had climbed on top of the desk and called out to Luce, her glass raised in the air.

"To Luce," she toasted, giving Luce a saintly smile. "Who was obviously zoning and missed my entire welcome speech and who will never know how utterly fabulous it was— wasn't it fabulous, Ro?" she leaned down to ask Roland, who patted her ankle affirmatively.

Cam slipped a plastic cup of champagne into Luce's hand , she thanked him and looked around the place suddenly taking out a pack of cigarettes from her jeans " Do you mind ? " she raised the pack up and took out a cigarette .

"Go for it Price anything my girl wants " he winked at her and strolled away into the crowd of people.

Luce laughed loudly and than approached the window which ironically was right next to the bed where Daniel sat .Luce looked at his back as she lit her cigarette and rolled her eyes at herself as she slowly sat on the bed next to him .

"Hey " she said smiling and taking a drag of her cigarette "You having fun ? " she said leaning in towards his ear .

"It's alright i guess not in a party mood really " he shrugged and looked towards Cam.

"Well i'm not either really never was the biggest party animal " she laughed softly when a smile spread across Daniels face and he laughed with her .

"You know - " he began but got interrupted by Roland who jumped in the middle of the room said loudly .

"Okay, all you rejects," The record player had quieted down to the static between songs. "We're going to start the open-mike portion of the night, and I'm taking requests for karaoke."

"Daniel Grigori!" Arriane hooted through her hands.

"No!" Daniel hooted back without missing a beat.

"Aww common Daniel " Luce cheered him on but he just shook his head .

"Aww, the silent Grigori sits another one out," Roland said into the microphone. "You sure you don't want to do your version of 'Hellhound on My Trail'?"

"I believe that's your song, Roland," Daniel said. A faint smile spread across his lips, but Luce got the feeling it was an embarrassed smile, a someone-else-take-the-spotlight-please smile.

"He's got a point, folks." Roland laughed. "Though karaoke-ing Robert Johnson has been known to clear out a room." He plucked an R. L. Burnside album from the stack and cued the record player in the corner. "Let's go down south instead."

As the bass notes of an electric guitar picked up, Roland took center stage, which was really just a few square feet of moonlit empty space in the middle of the room. Everyone else was clapping or stomping their feet in time, but Daniel was looking down at his watch. Luce slowly finished her cigarette and got off the bed she threw the cigarette into a plastic bin . As Daniel shot his head up to look at Luce she turned back to him and smiled "Nice talking to you see you around " she waved as she walked away towards Cam and his friends .

"Yeah cya " Daniel said and he gave out a loud sigh. He looked up towards Cam and Luce laughing and talking to others and they looked like they were having fun .Heat was rising inside of him and he clenched his hand into a fist .Cam moved closer to Luce and put his arm around her waist she simply looked up at him and smiled . How could she ! Daniel thought to himself he couldn't take it anymore .

Luce smiled at Cam as he put his hand on her waist warmth spread through his hand to her body she didn't mind Cam touching or kissing her she didn't find it awkward or uncomfortable at all it was kind of fun being close like that with someone again and not worry that they will blow up in flames like Trevor did , Cam was immortal and so was she there was no point in trying to live a normal life if she could live forever and have time for all of that . Luce gave a quick glance to where Daniel was sitting he stood up, edged himself around Molly , and slipped silently out the door. Luce looked at the door for a second and bit her bottom lip hard .

"Wanna go for a walk it's kinda loud here " Cam pointed at the door with his beer can that he held in his hand and Luce smiled knowing exactly what Cam meant .

"It would be my pleasure " Luce responded as Cam slid his hand into hers and opened the door's for her . "M'Lady " he gently bowed down before her .

"Of stop it M'Lord you are too kind " she threw her hand in the air putting on a British accent .

They both laughed as the stepped threw the door . After the roar of the party, the quiet rang in Luce's ears. It took a second before she could make out hushed voices just around the corner.

Daniel, She'd recognize his voice anywhere , and another voice a girl's voice that Luce recognized but she couldn't put her finger on it . Cam narrowed his eyes and softly whispered "Gabbe " to Luce and rolled his eyes , she laughed quietly and covered her lips with her hand . She stormed forward pulling Cam with her they were about to walk around the corner to where Gabbe and Daniel were when Cam stopped and looked back at the party . "Shit ! " he said quietly "I forgot something wait here " Cam let go of her hand and lightly jogged towards his room .

Luce spun around and leaned again the wall of the hall she wasn't paying much attention to Daniel and Gabbe's conversation she just kind of drifted off and then out of the corner of her eye she observed a shadow at the corner of the wall she chuckled softly and ignored it .

Luce could still hear their soft voices they were quiet but she heard them clearly "Ah'm sorrrry," Gabbe said .

"It won't happen again," Gabbe continued, "I swear to—"

"It can't happen again," Daniel whispered, "You promised you'd be there, and you weren't."

Well that's interesting Luce thought she loved secrets she sat straight up but after another minute she stopped paying attention .

She heard footsteps and she stood up thinking it's Cam with the mysterious thing he forgot but it was only Daniel walking up the steps probably heading to his room .

Luce spun around in small circles and began humming a song she heard sung to her in heaven by Lucifer . She still loved the song even though she didn't love Lucifer it was just a good reminder that she was loved not only by Daniel but another man also . And before she could help it the words spilled out of her lips .

"_Of all the pairs the Throne endorsed_

_None rose to burn as bright_

_As Lucifer, the Morning Star, _

_And Lucinda, his Evening Light"_

She gently danced around as she sang softly to herself . She glanced back at the shadow but it was already gone she smirked and sang the same words again .

"_Of all the pairs the Throne endorsed_

_None rose to burn as bright_

_As Lucifer, the Morning Star, _

_And Lucinda, his Evening Light"_

Luce spun around and jumped in surprise as Gabbe stood in front of Luce eyes wide with shock and mouth open .

"Oh my gosh Gabbe you scared me " Luce placed her hand on her heart and took a few deep breaths .

"What were you just singing there ? " her voice was cool and simple but Luce knew she was freaking out inside .

"I don't know just a song " she lied and looked at the blonde airbrushed girl with cold eyes .

"How do you kn-" but she was cut off by Cam running up to Luce and gently lifting her off her feet . Luce laughed and than turned to the boy and placed a kiss on his lips "What the hell took you so long ?"Luce slid her hand into Cam's .

"Jus' couldn't find what i was looking for " was all he said and began dragging Luce towards a big wooden door that lead outside .

"Oh yes i need a cigarette " she gasped " Oh and it was nice talking to you Gabbe " Luce flashed the girl a big smile and walked away with her boyfriend leaving Gabbe wild eyed and alone .


	14. Chapter 14 : Drown in your fears

Chapter 14

Bright and early Thursday morning, a loudspeaker crackled to life in the hallway outside Luce's room:

"Attention, Sword & Crosstians!"

Luce rolled over with a groan, but as hard as she crammed the pillow around her ears, it did little to block out Randy's bark over the PA.

"You have exactly nine minutes to report to the gymnasium for your annual fitness examination. As you know, we take a dim view of stragglers, so be prompt and be ready for bodily assessment."

Fitness examination? Bodily assessment? At six-thirty in the morning? Luce had been so exhausted after Cam's party , after everyone left she stayed and hung out with him until 4 in the morning . As she rolled over her bed she deeply regretted drinking all that whiskey and all those shots but she did think it was fun hanging out with Cam and he was a really cool guy under all that bad-ass i like black look of his .

She swung her feet off the bed and onto the cold vinyl floor. She brushed her teeth and put her hair into a low ponytail , she didn't bother with makeup today she was way too hungover to do anything , she tried to picture what Sword & Cross might mean by "bodily assessment." Intimidating images of her fellow students she shook the though out of her mind as she dressed in plain black leggings , black tank top and her favorite pair of black boots .Before she left her room she grabbed her leather jacket which hung on her door-knob and slid it on and walked out of her room not bothering to lock it behind her .

She crossed the south side of campus to the gymnasium. It was a large Gothic structure with flying buttresses and fieldstone turrets that made it look more like a church than a place where one would go to break a sweat. As Luce approached the building, the layer of kudzu coating its facade rustled in the morning breeze. She looked around trying to find a familiar face like Cam or Arriane anyone really but they were nowhere to be seen .

The double doors to the gym were thrust open. Randy stepped out in heavy rubber clogs, holding her ever-present clipboard. She waved the students forward, and one by one they filed past to be assigned their fitness station.

"Todd Hammond," Randy called as the wobbly-kneed kid approached. Todd's shoulders caved forward like parentheses, and Luce could see remnants of a serious farmer's tan on the back of his neck.

"Weights," Randy commanded, chucking Todd inside.

"Pennyweather Van Syckle-Lockwood," she bellowed next,"Pool," Randy instructed, reaching into a cardboard box behind her and tossing Penn a red one-piece Speedo racer-back.

"Lucinda Price," Randy continued, after consulting her list. Luce stepped forward and was relieved when Randy said, "Also pool." Luce reached up to catch the one-piece bathing suit in the air. It was stretched out and thin as a piece of parchment between her fingers. At least it smelled clean. Sort of.

"Gabrielle Givens," Randy said next, Luce had to stay away from Gabbe she was clever and she knew Luce so well she couldn't slip up because she knew Gabbe would tell Daniel that something was wrong .

"Hiii, Randy," Gabbe said, drawing out the words with a twang that made Luce want to pull a Penn and cover her own ears.

Anything but pool, Luce willed. Anything but pool.

"Pool," Randy said.

Luce tried to avoid looking back at Gabbe, who twirled what seemed to be the only fashionable bathing suit in the stack around her French-manicured index finger. Instead, Luce focused on the gray stone walls and the old religious paraphernalia covering them. She walked past ornately carved wooden crosses with their bas-relief depictions of the Passion. A series of faded triptychs hung at eye level, with only the orbs of the figures' halos still aglow. Luce leaned forward to get a better look at a large scroll written in Latin, encased in glass.

"Uplifting decor, isn't it?" the other girl who was assigned to the pool asked .Penn was her name , throwing back a couple of aspirin with a swig of water from her bag.

"What is all this stuff?" Luce asked.

"Ancient history. The only surviving relics from when this place was still the site of Sunday Mass, back in Civil War days."

"That explains why it looks so much like a church," Luce said, pausing in front of a marble reproduction of Michelangelo's pieta.

"Like everything else in this hellhole, they did a totally half-assed job of updating it. I mean, who builds a pool in the middle of an old church?"

"You're joking," Luce said.

"I wish." Penn rolled her eyes. "Every summer, the headmaster gets it in his little mind to try and stick me with the task of redecorating this place. He won't admit it, but all the God stuff really freaks him out," she said. "Problem is, even if I did feel like pitching in, I'd have no idea what to do with all this junk, or even how to clear it out without offending, like, everyone and God."

Luce thought back to the immaculate white walls inside Dover's gymnasium, row after row of professionally shot varsity championship pictures, each matted with the same navy card stock, each showcased in a matching golden frame. The only hallway more hallowed at Dover was its entryway, which was where all the alumni-turned-state-senators and Guggenheim fellowship winners and run-of-the-mill billionaires displayed their head shots.

"You could hang all the current alumni's mug shots," Gabbe offered from behind them.

Luce started to laugh—it was funny… and strange, almost like Gabbe had just read her mind—well Luce wouldn't be surprised but she knew better Gabbe was exactly like Luce and they always thought the same things.

"You're straggling!" yelled an unknown gym coach, appearing from nowhere. She—at least Luce thought she was a she—had a frizzy wad of brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, calves like ham hocks, and yellowing «invisible» braces covering her top teeth. She hustled the girls angrily into a locker room, where each was given a padlock with a key and directed toward an empty locker with a shove. "Nobody straggles on Coach Diante's watch."

Luce gave one look at her baggy bathing suit and threw it on the floor with disgust .

"Well you have to wear it " Penn pointed out she actually seemed nice kind of nerdy looking but nice Luce flashed her a friendly smile and raised an eyebrow .

"Well i got my own one i guess im just lucky " she took out a light blue bathing suit which looked new and expensive with the sides cut out and the back and laughed at Penn's expression .

"You are good " was all the girl said and than they began changing into their bathing suits .

Inside the humid natatorium, she instantly understood what Penn was talking about. The pool itself was giant, Olympic-sized, one of the few state-of-the-art features she'd encountered so far on this campus. But that wasn't what made it remarkable. Luce realized in awe. This pool had been set down right in the middle of what used to be a massive church.

There was a row of pretty stained-glass windows, with only a few broken panels, spanning the walls near the high, arched ceiling. There were candlelit stone niches along the wall. A diving board had been installed where the altar probably used to be. If Luce had not been raised agnostic, but rather as a God-fearing churchgoer, like the rest of her friends in elementary school, she might have thought this place was sacrilegious.

Some of the other students were already in the water, gasping for air as they completed their laps. But it was the students who weren't in the water who held Luce's attention. Molly, Roland, and Arriane were all spread out on the bleachers along the wall. They were cracking up about something. Roland was practically doubled over, and Arriane was wiping away tears. They were the only ones who got the attractive bathing suits and all the other got these shitty grey ones Luce though and smiled at herself . Angel's kind of hated to swim full stop . They just did Luce didn't understand it but they just didn't like the idea of getting wet except for her and Daniel who always loved to swim . She cracked a smile and shifted back to reality and the pool .

"They always have notes to sit out," Penn explained, glaring at the popular crowd on the bleachers. "Don't ask me how they get away with it." but Luce had an idea and honestly she was not in the mood to swim or really do anyting .

"Hey ill be right back " she smiled at Penn and hurried back to the changing room before the coach seen her .

Luce threw off her bathing suit and put on some black shorts and a grey tank top with some vans to it . She had to be smart about this if she brought attention to herself the group of angels would suspect something , she took a deep breath and went back to where the coach stood with a angry look on her face .

"Coach " Luce began summoning all the power and energy she had .

"What ! " she coach barked at the girl and eyed her "Where is your bathing suit "

"About that " Luce gently touched her and immedietally seen the influence she had on the coach just by the way her expression softened . "I have to leave " she didn't take her eyes off the coach "and i can't swim today coach im so sorry it's just i have plans"

"Of course darling do whatever pleases you " she smiled kindly at Luce who tore her gave from her and looked up at the group of angels sitting on the bleachers . All of them were still laughing except for Roland who's gaze was fixed on Luce and the coach . Luce being a high class angel had skills and powers that some angels had now she was the strongest out of all of them here but she couldn't use her powers too often or else they would find out . Luce smiled at the boy and winked at him as she walked out of the gym without looking back .

"Hey " Cam said sounding very exhausted as he opened the door to his room .He was shirtless again and he was running his hand through his hair which made his muscles pop out and Luce couldn't help but laugh .

"And like always you're shirtless " Luce walked into Cam's room and sat on his bed .

"I'm just trying to impress you sweetheart " he sat beside her and put his head on her shoulder.

"So you said you got something for me , but than you never gave it to me as you passed out in your room after we finished that second bottle of vodka " she laughed softly and put her head against his . " so now i'm here to collect it " she looked at Cam who looked half asleep .

Luce got out of bed and went to the bathroom where she found a empty glass which she filled with water and as Cam was lying on his bed sleeping she was about to pour the water on his head when he shot up and grabbed the glass from her .

"Don''t you dare " he said sounding serious but she knew he was teasing her .

"You know i wouldn't do that to you babe " she planted a kiss on his cheek "I was just trying to wake you up "

"But what are you doing up so early ? " he rubbed at his eyes and jumped back onto his bed .

"Well " Luce sat at the corner of the bed and she placed her head on his chest "I was in the gym and than i figured i missed you and i was too exhausted to swim so i bailed and came here instead " she was listening to the steady beat of his heart and wondered do angel hearts beat the same as human ones .

"Well im truly flattered but i'm sure you care about the gift more than about me " he chuckled and than began stroking her black hair .

"Well i could have just got it out of your head but than i though that might be too far so i'm sticking to the traditional style " she put her hand at the side of his chest feeling every beat of his heart on her skin.

"Luce the fact that you didn't use your cool super-angel powers on me mean a lot to me " he sat up and walked over to his dresser where he pulled out a small blue box and than handed it to Luce .

She gently took the box knowing that it was old and she carefully opened the box and her heart stopped . "No way ! " she said breathlessly and she couldn't believe what was right in front of her eyes right now .


	15. Chapter 15 : Slow and Steady

Chapter 15

"Way , i told you you're the best girlfriend " he put his arm around her and gave her a friendly hug .

"My gosh Cam where did you find this " finally she took the necklace out of the box being as gently as possible this necklace belonged to her many centuries ago it was given to her by her mother and after she received it she never took it off . It was a gold necklace with small red diamonds here and there and in the middle was a medium sized ruby which was surrounded by even more red diamonds .

"I love you so much right now Cam i really do " she wrapped her hands around his neck and hugged him tightly she was so happy to have her necklace back and it was all thanks to Cam she pressed her lips against his and automatically she felt the warmth of his lips on her . His lips were soft and sweet she already forgot what Daniels lips were like and how it felt to kiss him and she really didn't want to remember . She planted small kisses on his cheeks and lips she was so happy she felt she could fly and she couldn't control her wings anymore and she just let them spread out and take all the space that was between her and Cam away .

"Wow that's what i call nice wings " Cam admired her wings his eyes soft on them .

"It feel's so great not having to hold them back all the time it feels so free " Luce tried to spin around but her wings were so big that they took up all the space in the room . She slowly folded them back down and finally had room to actually breath . "I cannot tell you how thankful i am for this , something from my past " she smiled at him but deep down she knew the happiness was forced from within . She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Cam's neck and kissed him very slowly . "And this is my present for you " she whispered in his ear and she felt him laugh softly . She looked up at him and kissed him again and again until she became dizzy . She threw her tank top off showing off her black lacy bra and Cam was only smiling at her like they were playing a game . He pressed his lips onto hers and than slowly kissed her neck and collarbones and her chin and back to her lips and they threw themselves onto the bed forgetting about the rest of the world

"We should get ready for class " Luce said as she rolled over on Cam's big messy bed .

"Yeah sure " he softly chuckled under his breath and stroked Luce's beautiful black hair gently .

"Seriously , i already missed gym and i got history first thing and i really don't want to miss it " she slowly got out of the bed and reached for her shorts and top .

Cam looked up at the ceiling and said nothing as Luce jumped into her shorts and top and now was putting on her shoes . Finally he broke off the silence "Why did you do it ? " his tone was curious and Luce looked up at Cam and said nothing .

"What do you mean ? " she pretended like she didn't know what he meant but she knew well but she really didn't want to answer the question .

"You know what Luce , i mean we only have to fake our 'relationship' in front of Daniel we don't need to do all this other stuff " he looked uncomfortable and he didn't want to meet her eyes with his .

She gently sat on the bed next to Cam and took a deep breath "Listen , after i do what i need to do i will be gone as far away from all of you as possible and i might not see ye ever again and all of this is just something i can remember you by " she placed her small hand on his big muscled arm .

"So you will remember me as the guy you slept with that was your ex-boyfriends friend " he finally looked up at her and the spark in his eyes was back again , he was himself again .

" I will also remember you as my best'est friend in the world that i could always rely on and sleep with occasionally " she laughed . "But do you know what strikes me the most " she could feel the warmth of Cam's shoulder traveling to her body and his heart beat slow and steady .

"What ? " he lifted up his eyebrow and gave her a half smile .

"The fact that you never asked me what my plan is and how i came back and how i'm the 'old' Luce again ? I mean i bet you wanted to ask me what i'm doing here but why didn't you ? Maybe my plan is to kill all of you and you will never know ? or maybe i plan on bombing the school " she laughed softly but kept a serious face .

"Well yeah i always wondered what you're up to and how it's possible that you're back and not in love with Daniel but i trust you Luce and i trust you with your choices"

"And that is why you are my favorite ! "she gently punched his in the shoulder making him laugh . "Yeah but in all seriousness i'm not trying to bomb this shit hole or kill all of you , i only have to do one thing and really it's nothing bad , it's a really long story " she took a deep breath " So basically god said he will break the curse for me if i stay away from Daniel and so for years i did until 2 weeks ago god said that something is wrong and it was Daniel he still loved me so god couldn't fully break the curse so he said that i have to make Daniel stop loving me in order to fully break it and that's why i'm here " now the girl looked down at her hands and began twisting around her silver ring .

"You know that's not going to work right ? You will have to tell Daniel the truth and it will break him but he will still love you " Cam looked genuinely sorry for Luce and she knew he was right she had to tell Daniel the truth .

"I know i do Cam but it will crush him to hear that i don't love him anymore and i know that whatever i will do to make him hate me will fail i don't want to look into his eyes and say 'I loved you so much but love fades and mine has ' and i will try everything i can think of to not put myself in that position " she swayed back and forth on the bed chewing on her nail .

"Fine so i will help you become Daniel's least favorite person and he will regret ever even falling for you " Cam go up and walked towards his bathroom "Now go Luce and be a bitch and i have to take a shower " and he disappeared into his bathroom .

"See you at lunch " Luce shouted at Cam who shouted "Yeah" in response . She picked up her bag from the floor and exited out of Cam's room . She turned around and a pair of dark brown eyes was regarding her . Roland.

"Hey " she said flatly pretending like everything was normal . "What's up ? "

"Why were you in Cam's room Luce ? " he folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes .

"Well i was just getting something from him i'm still kind of lost with all this new school business " she gave him a nervous smile

"Oh common Luce don't lie to me i know the truth about you , and Cam is the last person to talk to about school "

"Um sorry but i really don't get what you mean " she stood still not moving away from the door .

"Don't act like you know nothing , and this is the second time iv'e seen you in Cam's room are you too like together or something ? I mean Luce its Cam as in Cam ! what happened to Daniel ? "

"I'm so sorry but i'm really lost now and it's mine and Cam's business and i don't have to explain myself to anyone maybe we are together maybe were not ? who cares and what do you mean it's Cam ? he's just a guy and he's not that bad " she looked down at the floor "And honestly i'm so sick of all that Daniel bullshit he's just a guy and as far as i know he's going out with Arriane and i'm really not interested in him so why is everyone trying to tell me i am ! " her eyes were raging now and she felt her blood rising .

"Tell me this so how did you get away from swimming today the coach never let's anyone off unless they have a note and she's not too friendly either so how did you do it ? do you have some kind of power or something ? " he raised his eyebrows and moved a step closer to Luce . He was on to her and she needed to make something up that would be convincing and that would make him back off .

"Well " she tried to force tears out "when i was 5 i lived on a farm and one day i was exploring like kids do " she wrapped her arms around herself and hugged her body . " and i came across a big lake , it was hot outside so i went in and swam around the place i swam further and further until i could not feel the bed of the lake i started freaking out and screaming and than i started drowning , i couldn't catch my breath and than all i remember was blacking out and sinking to the bottom of the lake " she let a tear fall down her cheek and wiped it away quickly . "my parent's found me a few minutes later floating on top of the lake and they saved me and ever since than i'm terrified of water i can swim but i just start panicking whenever i'm around water " she looked up at Roland who's expression changed he had a sad look on his face and that anger was gone from his eyes . "and that's exactly what i told the coach i mean she may be a cold heart'ed bitch but she is human after all " Luce smiled at Roland and wiped away the tears from her face .

"I'm so sorry Luce " he placed a hand on her shoulder "I really didn't mean to hurt you and i'm so sorry about the false accusations too "

"It's alright Roland it was a long time ago but i guess the fear is still there "

After a moment of silence she cleared her throat and said "Well i got to go get my stuff for class ill see you later ya " she smiled and began walking away .

"Yeah c'ya and sorry again " he raised his hand but than threw it back down .

"It's alright don't worry about it " she quickly walked towards her room hoping not to come across anyone else who might distract her .


	16. Chapter 16 : Between the lines

Chapter 16

"Now where are you going beautiful ?" Cam asked, lowering his red plastic sunglasses.

He'd appeared outside the entrance of Augustine so suddenly that Luce almost plowed right into him. Or maybe he'd been there awhile and she just hadn't noticed in her haste to get to class. Either way, her heart started beating quickly and her palms began to sweat.

"Um, class?" Luce answered, because where did it look like she was going? Her arms were full, with her two hefty calculus books and her half-completed religion assignment. "i told you i don't want to miss class "

Luce gazed into Cam's beautiful green eyes she remembered the first time they met on earth . Cam looked like an arty black-and-white photograph, his red shades Techni colored in. Cam's pale and clear skin and his dark hair made him look dark and also all the black did too .

"Class, eh?" Cam yawned dramatically. He was blocking the entrance, and something about the amused way his mouth was set made Luce want to know what wild idea he had up his sleeve. There was a canvas bag slung over his shoulder, and a disposable espresso cup between his fingers. He pressed Stop on his iPod, but left the earbuds dangling around his neck. Cam skimmed a sip off the top of his coffee. Holding up his index finger, he said, "Allow me to share my motto about Sword & Cross classes: Better never than late."

Luce laughed, and then Cam pushed his sunglasses back up on his nose. The lenses were so dark, she couldn't see even a hint of his eyes.

"Besides." He smiled, flashing her a white arch of teeth. "It's just about lunchtime, and I've got a picnic."

"Lunchtime ? , well Cam i guess my definition of lunchtime is different to yours i literally seen you 40 minutes ago " Luce rolled her eyes but she had to admit she was starving. She nodded at the bag he was holding. "Did you pack enough for two?"

Steering Luce with a broad hand on the small of her back, Cam led her across the commons, past the library and the dismal dorm. At the metal gates to the cemetery, he stopped.

"I know this is a weird place for a picnic," he explained, "but it's the best spot I know to dip out of sight for a little while. On campus, anyway. Sometimes I just can't breathe in there." He gestured toward the building.

Luce could definitely relate to that. She felt both stifled and exposed almost all the time at this place . Daniel could not pick a better place to go to school . She rolled her eyes .

"Come on," Cam said, tugging her along with him. They sidestepped overgrown patches of weeds, and Cam kept turning to help her over mounds of dirt burrowed out by who-knew-what.

At one point, Luce nearly lost her balance and grabbed on to one of the headstones to steady herself. It was a large, polished slab with one rough, unfinished side.

"I've always liked that one," Cam said, gesturing at the pinkish headstone under her fingers. Luce crossed around to the front of the plot to read the inscription.

Luce looked up at Cam , he never was into art . "Joseph Miley, " she read aloud. " 1821 to 1865. Bravely served in the War of Northern Aggression. Survived three bullets and five horses felled from under him before meeting his final peace. "

"Yeah." Cam shrugged. "I just like how the headstone explains the way he died. It's honest, you know? Usually, people don't want to go there."

"Think how much more interesting this place would be if everyone's cause of death was chiseled in." He pointed to a small grave a few plots down from Joseph Miley's. "How do you think she died?"

"Um, scarlet fever?" Luce guessed, wandering over.

She traced the dates with her fingers. The girl buried here had been younger than Luce when she died. Luce didn't really want to think too hard about how it might have happened.

Cam tilted his head, considering. "Maybe," he said. "Either that or a mysterious barn fire while young Betsy was taking an innocent 'nap' with the neighbor boy."

Luce started to pretend to act offended, but instead Cam's expectant face made her laugh. Cam acted so normal around her he was so cool and didn't care about anything and she loved that about him he wasn't like any of the other angels , when he was around her he was always himself .

She followed Cam to the bottom of the bowl-like graveyard and the more ornate tombs and mausoleums. On the slope above, the headstones seemed to be looking down at them, like Luce and Cam were performers in an amphitheater. The midday sun glowed orange through the leaves of a giant live oak tree in the cemetery, and Luce shaded her eyes with her hands. It was the hottest day they'd had all week.

"Now, this guy," Cam said, pointing to a huge tomb framed by Corinthian columns. "Total draft dodger. He suffocated when a beam collapsed in his basement. Which just goes to show you, never hide out from a Confederate roundup."

"Is that so?" Luce asked. "Remind me what makes you the expert on all of this?"

"Well my dear it's been quiet a few years since we last seen each other and a lot has changed"

"And in those years you learnt everything about beam's and Confederate roundup's ?"

"Just shut up " he threw his hands up and smiled .

He pulled a blanket from his tote bag and spread it out in a scrap of shade under the live oak tree. He unscrewed a thermos and Luce could smell the strong espresso. She didn't usually drink her coffee black, but she watched as he filled a tumbler with ice, poured the espresso over it, and added just the right amount of milk to the top. "I forgot to bring sugar," he said.

"I don't take sugar." She took a sip from the bone-dry iced latte, her first delicious sip of Sword & Cross-prohibited caffeine all week.

"That's lucky," Cam said, spreading out the rest of the picnic.

"It's not lucky you knew that " she placed her hands on her hips and watched as Cam set up the rest of the picnic.

Luce's eyes grew wide as she watched him arrange the food: a dark brown baguette, a small round of oozy cheese, a terra-cotta tub of olives, a bowl of deviled eggs, and two bright green apples.

"Where did you get this?" Luce asked. Pretending to focus on tearing off a hunk of bread, she asked, "And who else were you planning on picnicking with before I came along?"

"Before you came along?" Cam laughed. "I can hardly remember my bleak life before you."

"Aww don't be cheesy Cam its not cute on you , you're just too mean to be cute "

She leaned back o'n her elbows on the blanket, her legs crossed at the ankles. Cam was sitting cross-legged facing her, and when he reached over her for the cheese knife, his arm brushed, then rested on, her knee. He looked up at her, as if to ask, Is this okay?

"Seriously after what we did this morning ? " she didn't flinch or move away she just leaned back and enjoyed the day .

"Well sorry for trying to be gentlemen-e " he breathed out loudly making Luce laugh .

"It's much to late for that " she looked up at him as he used her knee to spread a triangle of cheese onto the bread . "And anyways how did you know i'll agree to your picnic plan . "

"Well i was working at the kitchen it's part of my agreement here i have to be 'giving back ' and i seen you pass the window and well your Luce i knew you would say yes and you looked awful lonely with all those books i though you might want some company " he threw his glasses off onto the blanket and looked at Luce.

"And you had this whole scheme of a romantic picnic," she finished. "In the scenic cemetery?"

"Hey." He ran a finger along her bottom lip. "You're the one bringing up romance."

"Oh piss off " she gently pushed him away from her and they both laughed .

"So do you have a plan ? " Cam gave Luce an apple and than reached for one for himself and took a big bite out of it .

"What do you mean ? " she bit into her apple and leaned back taking in the sun .

"Well your Daniel plan how are you going to tell him you don't love him ? " Cam moved up closer to Luce and leaned back so their heads were nearly touching .

"I won't have to after he finds out what happened between you and me this morning i'll be certain he will hate me " she took another bit out of her apple .

"Do you seriously think that will work he will just think that i charmed you with my 'evil powers' and that you didn't actually want to sleep with me , you know that he will try to convince himself that you didn't want to have sex with me and soon he will believe it and forgive you " his lips were set in a straight line and his eyes were narrowed slightly .

"Maybe but remember your Cam " she raised an eyebrow "And i have some other ideas up my sleeve " she winked at him

"What does that mean ? " he was smirking and he sat up .

"Well my dear Cam this means from now on we are official and there will be a lot of making out from now on " she grabbed some coffee and took a sipp .

He laughed so loudly an echo spread through the cemetery " I'm willing to sacrifice my lips for a good cause " he finished his apple and threw it into some bushed that grew behind them . "And if that doesn't work out ? "

"Well than ill have to settle for plan B and trust me Daniel will not like it " She put her coffee down .

"Do you want too tell me what that plan b is ? " he was growing curious and Luce knew she couldn't tell him .

"If you do a good job at being my 'boyfriend' you will never have to find out " she turned to him and smiled .

"There y'all are!" A breathless voice pulled Luce right out of the moment.

Luce let out an exasperated sigh and shifted her attention to Gabbe, who was standing before them with a high side ponytail, and an oblivious grin on her face.

"I've been looking everywhere."

"Why on earth would you be doing such a thing?" Cam glowered at her, scoring him a few more points with Luce.

"Cemetery was the last place I thought of," Gabbe rattled on, counting on her fingers. "I checked your dorm rooms, then under the bleachers, then—"

"What do you want, Gabbe?" Cam cut her off, like a sibling, just like old times .

Gabbe blinked, then bit her lip. "It was Miss Sophia," she said finally, snapping her fingers. "That's right. She got frantic when Luce didn't show up for class. Kept saying how you were such a promising student and all that."She must have sensed that she was interrupting something, but she just stood there blinking her big doe eyes and twirling a strand of blond hair around her finger. "Well, come on," she said finally, sticking out both hands to help Luce and Cam up. "Let's get you back to class."

"Lucinda, you can have station three," Miss Sophia said, looking down at a sheet of paper when Luce, Cam, and Gabbe entered the library. No Where have you been? No points off for tardiness. Just Miss Sophia, absently placing Luce next to Penn in the computer lab section of the library. Like she hadn't even noticed that Luce had been gone.

Luce shot Gabbe an accusatory look, but she just shrugged at Luce and mouthed, "What?"

"Wherehaveyoubeen?" Penn demanded as soon as she sat down. The only person who seemed to notice she'd been gone at all.

Penn and Luce met at the gym this morning and Luce really liked this girl .

Luce's eyes found Daniel, who was practically burrowed into his computer at station seven with Arriane beside him they both looked uncomfortable , Daniel searching something on the computer and Arriane sitting close to him was examining her nails . From her seat, all Luce could see of him was the blond halo of his hair, She sank lower in her chair, and she hung her head down .

Penn was tapping her pencil impatiently on Luce's desk . Luce looked up at Penn as the girl raised her eyebrows . "Oh yeah sorry i umm felt really light headed and i skipped gym and hung out with Cam for a while " . Luce looked at the and her childish face . Penn was tall with beautiful long hair that she mostly kept in a pony tail and big blue eyes that were hidden by her glasses .

Miss Sophia stood in the middle of the computer lab, snapping her fingers in the air like a preschool teacher to get the students' attention. Her stacks of silver bangle bracelets chimed like bells.

"If any of you have ever traced your own family tree," she called over the din of the crowd, "then you'll know what sorts of treasures lie buried in the roots."

"Oh, jeez, please kill that metaphor," Penn whispered. "Or kill me. One or the other."

"You'll have twenty minutes' access to the Internet to begin researching your own family tree," Miss Sophia said, tapping a stopwatch. "A generation is roughly twenty to twenty-five years, so aim to go back at least six generations."

Ughh

An audible sigh erupted from station seven—Daniel.

Miss Sophia turned to him. "Daniel? Do you have a problem with this assignment?"

He sighed again and shrugged. "No, not at all. That's fine. My family tree. Should be interesting."

Miss Sophia tilted her head quizzically. "I'll take that statement for an enthusiastic endorsement." Addressing the class again, she said, "I trust you'll find a line worth pursuing in a ten-to fifteen-page research paper."


	17. Chapter 17 : True lies

Chapter 17

The next morning Luce woke up to the sound of rain beating against her window . It was Saturday morning which meant no school . She reached for her phone that usually rested on her bedside table but she only found a clock . It was 10:07 and Luce scrambled out of bed dragging herself to the bathroom . She quickly brushed her teeth and put her hair up . She opened her small dresser and fished out some sweats and running shoes . Luce liked sports especially running , she missed out on gym the last day so she decided to catch up . Walking out of her room she headed straight for the gym . She paced down the corridor when she met Arriane who was heading towards the east wing .

"Hey " Luce smiled at Arriane who looked deconsentrated .

"Oh hello " Arriane stopped and returned the smile . "Where are you off too ? " she looked down at Luce's sweats and raised her eyebrows .

"Oh i'm just going to work out i missed it yesterday so i'm catching up " she looked down at herself and dropped her hands .

"Oh yeah i seen you talking to the coach and than you left , where did you go ? " she placed her hands on her hips .It was such a typical thing for her to do .

"Well i went to see Cam " Luce giggled softly and looked down .

"And ? " Arriane narrowed her eyes at Luce who started to blush "Oh my god you didn't did you ? " she opened her mouth and than placed a hand over it .

"Shut up ! " Luce laughed and big her lip .

"No way ! Luce seriously Cam really ? " she looked annoyed and disappointed .

"Oh what you would prefer if it were Daniel yeah ? since i have this massive obsession with him " Luce threw her hands up . "And besides hes all yours remember and when are you going out on that date anyway ? "

"Well actually i don't know i think i'm going to go and find out " Arriane started backing away towards the south wing . "And Luce be careful yeah Cam is not who he seems to be " she gave Luce one more sad smile and than ran down the hall .

A soft knock on the door woke Daniel up from his sleep . His heart skipped . What if it was Luce ? he thought to himself , he slowly got up out of his bed and dragged his feet to the door . He hesitated for a second but than opened the door and looked straight into Arrianes eyes .

"Morning sunshine " Arriane stepped through into his run and spun around . "We need to talk " she said face all serious .

"What is it ? " he ran his hand through his golden hair and looked at Arriane through sleepy eyes .

"Well i think you need to explain to me what the hell is going on , why are you telling Luce were going out on a date ? " she threw her hands up and sat on Daniel's messy bed .

"Because we are " he flashed her a smile . "You know Luce she won't admit shes into me and she will pretend she hates me but we both know that's not going to work so that is where you come in . We pretend to date and Luce and you are friends and as long as we date she will stay away from me and soon she will get over me and everything will be perfect " he sat next to Arriane and threw his back on the bed closing his eyes and breathing softly .

"So that's you plan ? " she looked down at Daniel . "Well i don't think it will work Daniel " she breathed loudly .

"Why not ? " he shot his eyes open and lifted his eyebrow .

"Well because ..because of Cam shes obviously into him and she seems like she really isn't into you anymore , i think .. i think something is wrong with her " she bit down on her lip .

"No she's just using Cam and he's using her to make me mad she's just faking it i know Luce " he placed his hands under his head and relaxed .

"Daniel .. i need to tell you something "- she could feel the heat rising up in her body and her palms began sweating "Luce and Cam they .. um they -" she stopped and took another deep breath .

"Oh Common Arriane what is it ? ! just say it " worry appeared in Daniel's eyes and he slowly sat up and looked into Arrianes broken eyes .

She didn't meet his and she kept them on the ground "They slept with each-other " it was like she was holding her breath the words were heavy on her lips and she felt relief and pain inside her .

"Wh-What ? " Daniel could feel his spirit slowly breaking and a sharp pain in his chest made it hard for him to breath . "What ? , no they didn't Arriane that's a lie Luce would never-she would nev- " he couldn't find any words to describe what he was feeling right now . He was angry , hurt , broken , damaged , dead but he also felt relief . "So are they together or something " he took a deep breath and jumped off the bed and began pacing around his room .

"I guess so , i don't know really i'm not sure but-" she rose but Daniel cut her off .

"There must be something wrong with her she would never sleep with Cam hes a dick and she knows it "

"The old Luce knows it not her Daniel she doesn't know any of us and she doesn't know you and that's probably why shes with Cam now you never gave her a chance " she gently touched his hard arm and looked straight into his broken eyes .

"No no it's .. it's too late for that i'm sticking to my plan , she probably just said that so i'll be jealous i know Luce she would't do that .. No were sticking to the plan , Throw a party tonight and invite everyone even Luce and than we can show her that we are for real , from now on you and me are together " Daniel held her by her shoulders gently and looked straight into her eyes .

"Do i get a say in this ? " she smiled at him

"No not really " Daniel's face was a series of mixed emotions he needed time and space and Arriane knew that .

"Well i better go , got some thing to do " she walked over to him and hugged him . "Cya boyfriend " she laughed but Daniel looked lost in his own though he was still pacing around the room and he stopped paying any attention to Arriane so she quickly left his room and headed for the library .


	18. Chapter 18 : Unbreakable

Chapter 18

How could Luce do that ? Why Cam ? Why now ? those questions jumped around Daniel's head as he got dressed brushed his teeth and headed for the gym . Whenever he was lost or confused he liked to go to the gym where no one ever went and he liked to think , he found the pool relaxing and at the gym all his stress disappeared .

His footsteps echoed through the gym as he approached the bleachers to put him bag down . The gym was empty as always no one ever came here unless they had to and Daniel liked that he could always think without anyone disturbing him .

Images of Luce and Cam kept flashing past him eyes , he desperately tried to shake them off but all he could see were Luce's beautiful hazel eyes .

Slowly he slid off his shirt of his back and took off his shoes and tossed them into his bag .

The pool gleamed and sparkled in the daylight .Taking a deep breath Daniel welcomed the fresh smell of chlorine and dampness . He moved towards the pool now standing at the edge of it . Slowly closing his eyes Daniel pushed away the thought of Luce and jumped into the pool .

_****15 minutes later ***_

Luce slid through the big heavy gym door and entered the wide soul-less area . She looked around trying to find at least one person here but the gym was empty . She ducked into the gym room but it was also empty so she went into the changing room to change into her swim-suit . She wore the same cute swim-suit as before and she tied her hair up into a pony-tail not bothering to wear a cap as no one else was there .

She walked fast into the pool as the stone floor was freezing her entire body . She threw her bag onto the bleachers when she noticed another bag lying beside hers . She looked around extending her neck to get a better look but still saw nobody around .

"Hello ? " her voice was confident and loud . She stayed quiet for a minute until the sound of splashing water caught her attention .

Softly she walked towards the pool and looked down .

The water was clear and beautiful it gleamed and sparkled in the daylight and Luce couldn't help but smile when Daniel's face appeared in front of her . She could feel her smile widening and a warm feeling went through her body . She blinked tearing her gaze away from the water when a golden figure caught her attention.

Her body froze in shock when she saw Daniel standing at the end of the pool , shirtless and staring right back at her with such sadness in his eyes that Luce though she felt her heart softly breaking in grief .

No ! not her , not now ! Daniels voice screamed at him in his head , she looked so delicate and so beautiful . Crystal water illuminated her eyes making them shine like the brightest of stars . Luce was just standing there with her soft skin and her beautiful black hair up in a pony-tail and that's all it took for Daniel to forgive her everything she done to him . One look at her made him lightheaded and breathless . Chills ran down his spine and all he could do was stand at the edge of the pool and just look at her .

He knows what i did ! Arriane told him , i can tell by his face . Luce bit her lip as those words echoed through her mind . There was no time for this now , no time for Daniel ! she came here to think and be alone , the last person she expected here was Daniel and yet there he was standing across from her looking so beautiful and radiant . His body was sparkling from the water and his muscles were tensed . He had a strong broad back and his arms were big and muscled but delicate at the same time . She looked down at his chest than his six pack and than his v - lines . Daniel was very strong , stronger than Cam even , his arms were larger and more defined and he looked like he could destroy anything and anyone . Even though he was so strong and muscled he still looked delicate and soft . After taking a long look at him did Luce realize how much he actually changed and how much she missed him .

"Hey " she raised her hand up to wave at Daniel but quickly pulled it down thinking how pathetic she must look in front of him . Biting down on her lower lip she looked down at the floor until the sound of Daniels soft voice made her head shoot up .

"Hey " he smiled a little at her and began walking toward her , carrying a certain awkwardness with him .

She shifted uncomfortably in place and smiled widely at Daniel who was now standing next to her .

His eyes were on her not looking away , she could feel the heat off his body , she wanted to wrap herself around his waist and just stand there and fall asleep .

"So what are you doing here ? " Daniel asked breaking the silence between them .

"Oh me ? , well i kind of chickened out on gym yesterday so i felt like i should at least try today " she hugged herself feeling the cold all over her body .

"Oh cool yeah i like it better when it's all quiet , helps me think and clear my mind " he stood there with his back straight .

"Yeah i guess i just really didn't want to embarrass myself in front of everyone " she looked up at his golden eyes but now they had a mix of violet in them .

"What do you mean ? can you not swim ? " Daniel's expression didn't change he didn't laugh or smirk he only looked at her with such intensity in his eyes that it made her uncomfortable .

"No its just .. when i was little i nearly drowned in a lake and i'm kind of petrified of water and yesterday i told myself than i cannot be scared for the rest of my life i mean i'm 17 its about time i get into the water " she gave him a nervous smile as she watched his face change .

"Oh im so sorry i didn't mean to .. " he began but than stopped and only looked at her . He felt protective towards her he wanted to hold her and keep her safe forever , anger raised inside him he was mad for not being there when his Luce nearly died and he cursed himself .

"It's fine .. its about time i suck it up and get in the water " laughing nervously she approached the water and looked down at it . Luce knew how to swim and she loved water but she had to keep her act together . She drew closer to the pool and softly placed one leg into the water and than the other one feeling the warm water soaking her body . She laughed softly and began slowly moving around the pool .

"Well what are you looking at ? get in ! " Luce splashed Daniel with water . He chuckled softly and jumped into the pool joining Luce.

The water gleamed like little crystals and the sound of small splashed echoed through the room . Luce softly swam around lasing the water between her fingertips staying quiet and just breathing in the smell of water .

Daniel swam next to her not tearing his gaze off her , he tried to follow her every move as if he was protecting her from something evil luring in the peaceful water.

_I know this one took me ages iv'e just been really busy but here it is ! not one of my best but it will do :D i promise more action is coming in the next chapter which i will try to upload today or tomorrow _


	19. Chapter 19 : Last breath

Chapter 19

"You're a pretty good swimmer , you know " Daniel swam around Luce in small circles as the girl watched him and laughed . Luce laughing , .. he hasn't heard that soft laugh in so long , he closed his eyes and let the sound of her voice send him away from reality .

"I guess i'm a nautral " she responded back to him and swam away into the deeper end .

"So .." Daniel began as he swam closer to Luce who gently floating on her back with her eyes closed . "how are you liking the school ? " he watched her carefully taking in every detail .

"It's okay i guess i thought it would be worse and all but the people here are cool and it's really not that bad " she didn't move she just laid on her back with her eyes closed .

Daniel let out a small chuckle under his breath and ran his fingers through his wet hair . "When i first came here i hated it , it was like this huge hell-hole and everything sucked , i think you're the first person iv'e met who actually likes this place "

Luce softly opened her eyes and straightened up looking at Daniel . "Well i guess i just belong here " she swam away from him and looked up at the big clock that hung on the stone wall . "Shit i better go " swimming towards the small steps built into the pool Luce crawled out and turned around to see Daniel was already gone . "Well that's strange " she looked around but there was no sign of him .

Taking out a towel from her bag Luce heard foot steps behind her .

"Hey " a deep familiar voice said .

"Hey " Luce turned to face Roland who was standing a few inches away from her . "What are you doing here ? " she shifted uncomfortably .

"Oh you know just looking for Daniel " he raised his eyebrow at Luce as he regarded her . "What are you doing here Luce ? i though you were scared of water " he folded his arms over his chest and took a step closer towards her .

"Well yeah but i was just - " but before Luce could finish Roland had her pinned to the cold stone wall his hands folded around her neck . His eyes were wild and mad and he was smiling like he won a race or a medal .

"Wha- what are you- sto-pp-stop ! " Luce tried to say but Roland was squeezing her throat so tightly that she couldn't get a word out . She desperately tried to move his hands away from her throat but he was too strong even for Luce . She could feel the air escaping her lungs . Chills ran down her entire body and she could feel the stone of the walls piercing into her skin .

Her vision blurred and the sound of Roland's voice echoed through her mind .

"I know what you are Luce you can't fool me , how could you do this to us and to Daniel have you got no heart " she could feel his voice cracking and his grip tightening around her throat . She placed her hands on top of his trying to get them off her but she could feel all her energy flowing out of her . Tears ran down her cheeks in pain and she could taste something acidic in her mouth .

"Roland - " she coughed feeling her voice weakening "Please " she managed to say . But Roland stood there still looking straight at Luce with such pain "How could you Luce " . A loud piercing sound rang in Luce's ears and she closed her eyes knowing that this was it . She could feel her body slowly falling to the ground and the last thing she heard was Daniel's angry voice.

_"Roland what the hell ! "_

_"Don't worry shes just knocked out ! She's an angel Daniel i know she is , she's been lying to us all "_

_"Are you crazy i was with her all morning here in the pool and shes nothing like my Luce Roland she's a plain ordinary human who is lost in this world not knowing who she really is "_

_"But she ... she i was so sure she was OH GOD NO ! NO ! how will we ever fix this "_

_"The only way we can .. we have to tell her the trust "_

_"But that means she will - "_

_"Yeah i know what this means , Luce will die "_

The sound of Luce's squeaky bed woke her up . As she opened her eyes the images of the morning flashed before her eyes . Roland . Her. Daniel . Roland chocking her . Passing out . She took a deep breath and gently touched her throat . Her skin was hot under her touch but she could feel goose bumps on her skin from the fear .

"Hey " Daniel said his voice exhausted and his eyes full of worry . He was wearing a black t-shirt and black skinny jeans and his jacket was hung thrown on the ground . "How are you feeling ? " he was sitting on a chair and he softly got up and carefully sat next to Luce .

"I'm alright i guess how the hell did i get here ? "

_"The only way we can .. we have to tell her the trust " _

_"But that means she will - " _

_"Yeah i know what this means , Luce will die " _

The conversation between Roland and Daniel echoed through her mind . No he cant tell me everything we will expect me to die but i wont he will find out the truth , he cant !

"What's the last thing you remember Luce " Daniel was watching her carefully searching for any kind of recognition to what just happened in her eyes .

"Well you and me were swimming and than i looked at the clock and i got out of the pool and that's all i remember , why what happened ? " Luce lied to Daniel knowing that this would be the best thing to do .

Daniel let out a loud breath of relief and he closed his eyes . "Well you and me were swimming and than you got out of the pool and you collapsed so i brought back to your room so that you could rest "

So he decided to lie to her . Luce gave out a small smile of relief , she was really glad he lied to her . "Oh shit ! it was probably because i didn't eat anything today " she slowly got up from her bed . S he felt her feet weaken under her and she was about to fall when Daniel shot up and caught her in his arms .

"I got you , don't worry you should rest i'll bring you some food if you like " He gently laid her onto the bed and threw the covers over her . She looked so peaceful and so fragile to him like a porcelain doll that is so easily broken .

"That would be great Daniel thank you " she smiled at him . She grabbed his soft hand into hers and added "could you please tell Cam to come see me ? " she gently squeezed Daniel's hand . His face was plain and unreadable she knew he was in pain and it was unfair to do this to him but she had to . He stood still looking straight at her and after a minute he said .

"Sure anything you want " He let go of her hand and headed for the door .

"Thank's Daniel you're a great friend "

"Yeah ... friend " he murmured to himself but Luce could still hear it .She watched him as he left her room without another word .

Luce sat up and looked around , the room was normal looking and everything was in place . She sat there quietly for a few minutes until the door opened and Cam walked into her room looking worried .

"Cam " Luce got up even though she knew she was too weak

"Luce what the hell happened ? " he caught her before she could fall and he hugged her tightly burying his face into her neck . She closed her eyes and wrapped her hands around his waist .

"I don't know Cam i mean all i remember was being at the pool and than Daniel appeared we swam and than came Roland we were talking and he began strangling me until i passed out , he was saying all this stuff about knowing who i am and how could i do that to all of them and so much crazy things " she rubbed her temples and sat down onto her bed .

"So he knows what you are ! Did he tell Daniel ? " Cam sat next to Luce and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well he though he knew what i was but i didn't tell him , than came Daniel and i think he convinced Roland that i don't know anything so i guess no .. Roland is confused and he's probably scared but i think he believes Daniel "

"That's good this means he thinks you know nothing , don't worry Luce it's all good " Cam wrapped his arm around Luce and hugged her .

"I dont know Cam i feel like i should tell him " looking up at the boy she saw he looked exhausted like he didn't sleep for days but she just brushed that though off .

"Are you crazy ! he will tell Daniel and than you'll be screwed "

"Well not if i threaten him to keep quiet i have the power to do it "

"If you have the power to do it why didn't you stop him when he was strangling you Luce ? " he sat up straight looking straight at Luce's small face .

"I was stunned and if i did he would find out what i was " she got up and approached her dresser , she could feel all her energy back and her legs were strong she could feel energy flowing through her body again .

"What are you doing ? " Cam got up and walked towards her .

"You mean what are we doing ? " she raised an eyebrows at Cam who looked lost "We are going to pay a not so friendly visit to Roland " she smiled at Cam and pulled out some black clothes from her dresser.


	20. Chapter 20 : Spill the lies

Chapter 20

"Luce ? .. Cam ? .. wha-what are you doing here ? " Roland stood in his door with a puzzled look on his face .

"We came to talk " Luce pushed past Roland into his room and spun around to face him .

Cam quietly closed the door behind him and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room not saying a word .

"Emm..wh-what about ? " Roland stood beside his small window with his hands over his chest , he looked exhausted and worried and tried not to look into Luce's eyes .

"Well maybe the fact that you nearly killed me " Luce said calmly not tearing her eyes away from Rolands pale looking face .

Cam chuckled loudly and leaned back against Roland's dark blue walls .

"I though you - " fear spread all over Roland's face .

"You though that i don't remember anything ? " laughing loudly Luce moved closer to Roland who looked paralysed "That's what i told Daniel but it's not true "

"I'm sorry Luce , I'm so so sorry i dont kno-"

"Oh Roland it's quite alright " Luce flashed him a wide smile and looked around his room " I can't be killed anyways so no hard feelings man "

In that second Roland's expression changed from scared to angry . His chest was rising and falling faster and faster by each second and his eyes were blazing with rage . "So you are ..but you lied ? ..and Cam and you ? .. but why ? " he was pacing around his room throwing his hands up dramatically .

"Well.." Luce started and leaned against the wall next to Cam who smirked at her . "Yes I am an angel ..annnndd yes I lied because I have a great reason , and me and Cam ? " she pointed at the boy "We're just friends "

"A little more than that actually " Cam cut in laughing . "Me and our dear friend Luce here are partners .. I help her she helps me .Its a fair deal actually " Cam stretched his arms out making him look even taller and larger than he was .

"And your last question.. why ? Well because i have to and because pissing Daniel off is fun " she was leaning against the wall expressionless keeping her eyes on Roland's confused face .

"You think that pissing Daniel off and breaking his heart is fun ?! Are you out of your fucking mind ! " Roland moved closer to Luce who didn't even flinch , she was only looking straight at Roland with a smirk on her face . "What the hell happened to you Luce ? " the anger from his face disappeared and was now replaced with sadness and disappointment .

"Oh MY GOD ! "Luce sighted loudly "What the hell is everyone's problem with my lately , that look on your face that one right there "Luce pointed at Roland's face ."I've been seeing that look on everyone's face since i came here and how do you think i feel about that ? All my friends hating me and treating me like some stupid kid , I'm done with this Shit ! Cam is the only one who actually is ok with the 'new Luce ' and that's why I'm with him , he gets me "

"Luce you should know that Cam likes stuck up bitches so I'm not surprised with that " Roland folded his arms over his chest like he always did when he was annoyed or proud of himself .

Ragefully Luce moved closer to Roland and pushed him up against the wall folding her hands around his neck and effortlessly lifted him without even flinching .

"Luce what the hell stop " Cam moved up to Luce but didn't try to stop her from chocking Roland . " We were suppose to talk to him not suffocate him " .

"Well he doesn't wanna listen so i guess we have to make him " she looked at Cam's face and than back to Roland's. "If you tell Daniel a word about me i will rip your wings off and kill you and i will make sure it will hurt ..really badly " Luce let go of Roland's neck and let him fall on the ground .

"I just want to know why you're doing this " Roland managed to choke the words out .

Luce helped Roland up and supported him up against the wall "Because i don't want to keep on dying , I'm here to break the curse and in order to break it i have to make Daniel stop loving me "

"Good luck with that " Roland rubbed at his throat while taking in deep long breaths .

"That's what i said too " Cam laughed an opened the door .

"If you want to know more than you can always visit me . I'll be in my room " Luce winked at Roland . "And trust me if you tell Daniel I will know and I promise I will find you and make you suffer " and than she felt .

"She's usually nicer trust me " Cam smiled at Roland and left closing the door behind him leaving Roland looking stunned and all alone.

"Was it really necessary to pull the 'I'm a bitch who's stronger than you ' act ? " Cam jumped onto Luce's rusted bed as soon as he walked through the door .

"Is that suppose to be an insult ?" Luce pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her dresser and lit a cigarette . "and besides Roland is like Daniel's little bitch you know he would tell Daniel straight away if i was nice to him , i had to use a little violence to scare him " she took a long drag of the cigarette and let the smoke swiftly escape her nostrils .

"He looked petrified Luce he did nearly kill you after all he was feeling guilty as hell and you just made it worse now " Cam pulled out a small copy of a black covered book from Luce's bedside table and examined it .

"Oh common its Roland he might be scared but he wont show it , he will come and we both know it so you get out and do some of your Cam important business " Luce pulled Cam towards the door and when he left she gently shut it . Sitting down on her bed she took a drag of her cigarette and waited until Roland would come to her .

It didn't take Roland long to get to her room ,in fact he was there earlier than Luce expected.

"Ok I'm here to talk but no violence " he stormed into her room wild-eyed, throwing his hands up dramatically.

"Fine with me Roland let's talk " she sat down on her bed and patted a small area beside her . Roland only looked at it for a second and shaking his head sat on a small chair beside her .

"What the hell is going on Luce ? , you being angel and ditching Daniel like that ? and the curse ? I want to know everything " Roland's eyes were curious and wild .

"Ok I'll tell you everything , but you cannot tell anyone "

_i'm so sorry this took me ages i'm graduating high school soon and i have so much exams on next week and also iv'e been working on the ending of this series which i think will be amazing and i'm excited to show it to ye'll but don't worry i plan on writing another 6 or 7 chapters before i finish it :D _


	21. Chapter 21 : Poison my love

Chapter 21

"So basically you .. you don't want to be with Daniel anymore right ? is that why you wanna break the curse , you want to free yourself ? "

"You make it sound so bad " she chuckled and crossed her legs over "loving someone and knowing that they love you back is the greatest feeling in the world ..but it , it " she took a deep breath and looked into Roland's concerned eyes "It was not suppose to happen .. I'm not saying that loving Daniel was the worst thing that has ever happened to me but i'm not saying it was the best thing either "

"Wait i don't get what your saying , so you think that you and Daniel should have never been together ? " he shifted uncomfortably in his seat .

"No that's not what i mean , I love Daniel and i'm so glad i met him and got to love him so many times . To us it always felt right you know because we we're so in love we didn't see how it affected others around us , and that's why we failed .. we failed God and our friends and most of all we failed ourselves and the curse was our punishment , a reminder that there is never a happy ending and just because we are angels it doesn't mean we can have one too . The curse is a message from god that we failed him and that the love we thought would bring us happiness and joy will only bring us pain and grief ."

"You never failed any of us ! not me not Arriane or Gabbe or even Cam and screw God Luce he can't tell us who to love "

"No he can't but he can guide us to who is right for us and who will make us see the beauty and good in everything and who won't change us , that's why we're cursed , god knew this would happen and he wanted to stop it . He knew he couldn't make us stop loving each other but he knew that by putting that curse on us it would change us eventually we would see things differently and that one day one of us would break .. and it was me " she got up of her bed and moved around her room "See there this one thing about curses they all have a certain loop-hole and all you got to do is look hard enough and i did "

"and you found .. what ? " Roland was tapping his foot and his hands we're gently shaking .

"The only way for the curse to be broken is for one of us to stop loving the other , there will be no more Luce and Daniel the angles who chose each other instead of heaven or hell , there will be no more true love only a memory "

"Well good luck with that Luce " Roland got up and slowly walked to the door "There is no way in hell that's gonna happen you may be a bitch but you still love him and he still loves you " he reached for the handle and pressed it down .

"There is a spell ...that can make Daniel forget who I am and what I mean to him " she sat back down on her bed and looked at Roland's turning back .

He slowly closed the door and shifted right back into the small uncomfortable chair . "Angel's can't do magic you know that Luce "

"I know a witch , in this school who can help me do the spell it will make Daniel forget who i am for a few hours or a day the longest "

"But what would be the point of that if he will remember you than and the curse won't be broken "

"The spell will give me some time to fully break the curse and with Daniel in the way i wouldn't be able to do it and if he forgets me he won't try to stop me " she looked down at her small white hands trying to avoide looking at Roland .

"What's so bad about breaking the curse that Daniel would want to stop you " Roland suddenly felt nervous and his gut was telling him that it will not end well but he tried to push back that feeling without success.

"I can't tell you ." Luce stood up from her bed and moved towards the door . " I just can't sorry " she opened the door and quickly ran outside into the hall without looking back .

Roland shot out of his chair and ran out into the hall after her . "Luce ! Shit ! Luce ! " he called out but she was already gone and nowhere to be seen .

"So how did it go with Roland ? " Cam looked up from his laptop as Luce sank down in his bed

"I don't know , I ran out before we really finished talking " she closed her eyes and stretched her arms out .

"What do you mean you ran out ? " Cam closed his laptop and sat next to Luce.

"Well I just kinda ran out .. look Cam it doesn't really matter anymore It's done i told him " she sat up and looked into Cam's worried eyes . "I told him everything ok , everything now it's up to him if he's gonna stay being Daniel's little bitch or actually help me "

"You know I used to know this girl , she was so sweet and kind , what the fuck happened to her " he threw his arm over her arm and hugged her gently .

"I don't know Cam but I used to know this guy and he was the biggest dick ever i wonder what happened to him coz now he's a complete softy now " she placed her head on Cam's chest and closed her eyes .

"Oh he's still a dick but he's got a soft spot for this one girl , she's his best friend you know shes a total bitch ..you might know her " he laughed and pressed his head on Luce's .

"Haha very funny " she punched his arm playfully " and that girl is still there , it's just the universe killed her so many times she kinda forgot who she really is and she's now only finding her way " she straightened up and headed for the door .

"Where are you going ? " Cam raised his eyebrows and slowly got up of his bed .

"You mean where are we going ? .. there is this book in the library that i really need and i need your help finding it " she opened the door and pointed out into the hall .

"Fine with me i have nothing better to do anyways " Cam followed Luce out the door and began heading for the library .

"Sure " Luce pushed Cam playfully and laughed as he did the same to her but with much more force that she nearly hit the wall .

"I though you were much stronger than that Luce " Cam joked as he grabbed her feet and waist and lifted her up like a bride and spun her around .

She wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed as he spun her round and round until they both felt dizzy .

Cam softly placed her back on the floor and laughed at her .

"Oh shut up i was just going easy on you and be quiet I don't want anyone to see us "

Cam touched his chest where his heart was and acted like he was hurt "So you don't want to be seen with me is that is ? embarrassed of your boyfriend much ? "

"No dumb-ass we are on a secret mission and no one can stop us coz there is no time " she grabbed his hand and pulled him trying to make him walk faster .

"And what exactly are we going to be looking for ? " Cam opened the door to the library for Luce and followed her until she stopped at the 'myths and legends ' section .

"A spell " she put her arms on her waist and looked around at the tall stack of books . "A spell that will help me break the curse "


End file.
